2025-01-30 - First Ever Polar Bear Plunge!

Declan, ever the 'daredevil' is out there already shirtless in his swim trunks and flipflops. Thankfully, the wind isn't terrible at the moment as so he's able to keep moving a bit to keep that blood moving. But that cold is affecting him. His skin is heavily goosebumped and teeth are near to chattering, but he's in delightful spirits. He hovers near his back and has a trio of blankets nearby and a whole mess of handwarmers waiting to be cracked and used.

"I dunno who thought of doing this,--" he offers in that Northern Irish lilt and to no one in particular. "--but they're fuckin' stupid." Maybe there are some who haven't put a face to the name yet, but those that have would see the playfulness in the great 'mastermind's' idea here.

"Stupidly brilliant!" Roman was a stranger when it came to the concept of a Polar Bear Plunge. Hawaii doesn't have polar bears or freezing cold water. If you want cold and/or snow you have to hike to the mountain peaks. His own accent a thick Hawaiian one.

He's cold too, in his swim trunks, hoodie, and barefeet, doing a jog in place to keep warm "It will be fine once you get in the water." easy for the merman to say.

"Pppfffft." Hisses a one Farah Dawson, currently burrito'ed into what appears to be some manner of plush housecoat that she is NOT quite ready to part with, juuuuust yet. "Lunacy. Lunacy." Is that her repeating herself, or is it a byproduct of her freezing her ass off? Because those words are jittered out through chattering teeth. The sash of the robe is undone and if Ms. Dawson hasn't been shivering enough, she's stepping over the threshold into absolute INSANITY.

Regardless, mirth paints her cold-flushed features and her last vestige of comfort is peeled away. Farah is wearing a black tankini paired with board shorts... she inhales sharply as the chill hits her.

"FFffuuuuuuuuuuu--"

"No more..." James says, pulling closed a heavy, long fuzzy robe that's oversized enough to be borrowed, standing nearby bundled in that and cozy flannel pajama pants. There's a long pause before she finishes, "Than us." She drops a zip up hamper of some kind on the ground as she arrives a little later than expected, but still within the window of meet up, her long dark hair pulled up into buns on her head, wispy strands loose to frame her face. It's a thermal towel hamper she's borrowed, towels inside rolled up and kept warm by a couple of hot water bottles nestles inside with them.

She's just off work at the diner, a backpack dropped beside the hamper with work clothes and sundry in. At least it wasn't that far of a walk in this pre-dawn hour. She looks from Declan to Tank, then nods to Farah. "Mmhm," she agrees. Lunacy. She takes a deep breath of cool morning air and smiles just a little, but she's not dropping that oversize bathrobe from her five foot ten frame until the last possible moment. She carefully toes out of a pair of short Ugg Villa Knit boots.

There is someone who is literally jogging out to the lake where the rest of the group is. He's dressed all in black. The hood of his hoodie is covering his head. It is Damian who has decided that he must try this adventure out at least once. He's one of those who will try something at least once, no matter how crazy it is. He's also way too alert and bubbly for this time of day. He's got a backpack with him, which is likely storing the things he will need after this plunge.

"Hello! Hello! Hello!" Someone has already been in the caffeine. He's not going to shuck off his sweats or tennis shoes just yet, but under the sweats are his swim trunks.

He did say that he'd be cheating, and Danny Kimball is nothing if not a man of his word. So the form that comes padding out of the patch of woods at the end of the beach on four enormous paws is covered with snowy white fur.

The pace he sets towards the other swimmers is deliberate. No scattering your fellow employees by charging at them. The bear emits a few huffs of greeting, before rearing up on his hind legs to wave a forepaw.

Blaze wasn't kidding when she said that she didn't know anyone. How's she's gone this long without meeting more then a few people is beyond her, so why not join a group of like minded daredevils and jump in an ice cold lake; she might be crazy

Stepping out on the expanse of Lake Michigan, she is dressed in a robe. While not as plush as others, it will hopefully be enough to stave out the frigid cold. She gives the growing group a once over, one corner of her lips lifting into a half smile. "At least it will wake you up?" She offers to Farah, even if she makes no initial move to step past the shore line. ",Maybe I should stick with Cliff diving" she muses softly.

Despite her own discomfort, Farah is in a good mood. Because look at the turn-out! Look at these fellow LUNATICS coming out to freeze their bazongas off! Though her ears are pink and her face pale, the rancher's smile is wide; practically filling her face. She is still dry (so far) .. and it's only a matter of time until Farah's dumb ass ceases this dilly-dallying IN THE CHILL WIND and sees fit to toe the edge of the water with intention to...

... to...

To Blaze, "Wake me up? Yeah.. probably send me leaping like those videos of cats walking on tinfoil." She drawls amicably before lifting her gaze toward the jovial bear that lifts a paw in greeting. "SEE.. right there. Not a lunatic, but genius."

It's one helluva turn out! Almost all of those who had responded initially expressed interest still as a date was arranged and of those, just over half are already in attendance! They could wait at the shoreline forever, but they'd most likely keel over by the time everyone got here, so...better make the most of it now!

He gives Roman a little finger-gun action because, yes indeed, this is brilliant, despite his self-deprecation. Declan can't help but let his eyes linger on Farah while she's out there because..well, it's Farah! "This is all your fault, you know. You said I 'didn't have the balls' to try this the other day, remember? Well..." He motions out over the water. "...Just so happens I might not have the balls after trying this, BUT WHATEVER!"

He give James a quick study and wave with a bright smile. She looks a little more composed than the rest and must have a secret...'up her sleeve'? (a-thank you). Damian gets a head pump and a grin as he approaches, but then he sees that literal polar bear striding his way and he can't help but laugh and playfully 'boo' Danny before grinning broadly with good-natured humor.

Then there's Blaze and he smiles to her too. "You can find a cliff to dive off of and then swim over here if you really want, I guess." One final glance to Farah with a wink before he looks out to the water and takes a few deep rapid breaths...

"Fuck it..."

And off he sprints to the water's edge, running as fast as he can until it hits his toes first. And he keeps going. Then it's up to his knees and he soldiers on. It gets to his waist and a little wave slaps him in the chest thanks to his own speed and that earns a: "Oh shit!!!!" before he simply devolved into near-delirious laughter. He treads in the water up to his neck before whistling for others to join him!

Someone is late to the arrival. Because he had had to convince himself to come. Socializing is hard, but he's going to try and so now walking up is Hawthorne. Wearing a hoodie and shorts he also has a backpack over one shoulder. Setting the backpack down he nods in hesitant greeting to those gathered. They all seem to be discussing different options for entering the water so he just listens so he knows who to follow.

Standing upright he removes his hoodie and kicks off his sneakers, leaving himself in a white short sleeved undershirt and the shorts that are acting as makeshift swim trunks. The cold air hits him and he takes an inhale. Nothing too bad. At least on it's own. It's then that he hears the summons from their fearless leader and he looks ahead. Deep breath and exhale...followed by another...then he's charging forward towards the icy waters.

Roman gives Declan a shaka gesture (hang loose with a wiggle) at Declan’s finger guns, and then is pulling off his hoodie. Dude has scales down his side and what looks like gills at the top of his rib cage under his arms. Guess he is built for this.

He is in the fray, charging with the rest into the water, water splashing as he runs through the waves. Once he gets far enough he just dives under and surfaces farther out “The water is great!”

He said he'd swing by on his morning run. He said they do this in Milwaukee every New Year's. He said he was always up for a challenge.

Truth is, Brandon O'Donnell says a lot of things but the thing about him is, the guy always tries to deliver. It's either fate, skill or just the dumb luck of the Irish that he usually does. A little late to the party, he spies what's going down as he jogs back up along the beach, already sweaty with exertion. Directing his path across the sands toward the water, he's quick to divest himself of Nikes, hoodie, and t-shirt before spotting Roman's familiar face among the many unknowns.

Waving to the big Hawaiian, Brandon shrugs his shoulders and then does something he hasn't tried since high school: a Polar Bear Plunge. You have to attack the Lake to make it happen or you'll turn around and dash right back out... so Brandon fires out and sprints down over the sand, the pebbles and finally the surf until he can catapult himself headfirst into an onrushing whitecap.

Briefly disappearing under the wave, the former Silvertone and current Sir Tristan shoots upright moments later, spluttering and grinning and freezing and wet, full of life and effervescent excitement. "DAMN that's COLD," he shouts to no-one in particular for the second time this week.

So this is Farah's response, the moment she hits the water. That right there. RIGHT THERE.

But the peal of laughter represents that she is NOT regretting her life's decisions because despite how UNCOMFORTABLE this is, it's hilarious to her because there are others present; all of whom have their own reactions to this shock to the system.

"HHOOOooo God!" Bellows the brunette as she sucks air in fiercely through her nostrils, "HOOOooooo sweet baby J.." And this is Farah's mantra for the next two minutes as she weathers the cold.

James' attention shifts from the gathering of variably excited current and future ice cubes to the... polar bear. She stands there a moment in absolute stillness, watching that snowy beast pad its way over to the gathering and then wave. She lifts a hand, a couple of fingers slightly curled, but doesn't say anything. One silent hand up to the bear, and context clues tell her this is perfectly normal around here, so she drops her robe. What she wears under is more of a romper than a swimsuit, though it's made of stretchy striped material.

She nods to those who extend her a wave or greeting, oddly reserving the most obvious hello for the bear. Perhaps it's easy to see why, considering. Leaving her robe on the shore, she makes her way into the water, no hesitation, an inexorable walk into the gently lapping waves of frigid liquid. She doesn't even slow down as each step takes her deeper, and there's no visible reaction on her face. At least until she's mid-thigh and takes a step and hits a hole that drops her to mid-back without warning. A sharp intake of breath is very likely lost to the splashing, nay, screaming, of some other folks hitting this brisk morning fuckery stupidity asshattery shenanigan crying in nervous system failure ritual.

Very, very softly, she sinks on down into the water up to her collarbones, and whispers, "Fuck."

Damian laughs as he takes note of all the daredevils that go before him. His eyes do go wide when he spies that polar bear, literally. But he is soon getting rid of his hoodie, sweats, and tennis shoes, leaving him in black swim trunks.

He makes some war cry sound and literally runs to the water. SPLASH he's doing an interpretive dance when the water hits him. "Ohhhhh myyyyyyy gaaaaahhhhh this water is so FUCKING cold!"

Now, he looks like one of those bobbers you see in the water once he clears his eyes with his hands so he can see once again.

Blaze purses her lips as she watches the unfamiliar group run into the ice cold water. She tilts her head back and lets out a string of curses. "They'd never believe this back home." Inwardly groaning she drops the house coat, which brings her full body of tattoos on display, parts covered by the simple black bikini.

She drapes her robe over a nearby rock and after sucking on a deep breath, she runs towards the icy water, not stopping until she's waist deep "Hhhhoollyyy fuck. God daaam tapdanncing Christ.!"

There's two things that hit Hawthorne as he runs into the water. First, it's the sheer biting stabs of cold that shoot through his entire body despite only making it mid chest level of water. Second, it's the thought that this is single handedly the worst idea he's ever had in his life.

"No...no no." It starts as a low calm repeated word. Then, it grows into a more frantic loud (compared to how the man usually speaks) declaration. "NO NO NO NO!" Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Do not care about dignity or pride or any manner of reputation. Get back to shore. Find your hoodie. Get warm. These are his goals. He practically seems to run on the water itself as Hawthorne makes his exit from the water just as quickly as he had made his entrance into the water.

He doesn't stop there. Once he's at his things he puts the hoodie back on. Then, he opens his backpack. A blanket is pulled out and wrapped around himself. Then, a thermos is brought out and into the cap is poured what seems to be a hot helping of tea. While he does this his knees bend slightly in a repeated bouncing motion as his body tries to both lecture him for his previous actions and help him to get warm. Alas, he tried.

As it's a polar bear plunge and not a come well prepared plunge but Angelo comes running up the beach booking it in a speedo bare feet to cold sand. Close to shore the gymnast pushes off the ground with a jump flying into the air, wings buzzing like a cold and angry toaster. Shifting the wings away he plunges at the water into a double gainer/somersaulting freefall diving into the water leaving a streak of gold sparkles and swearing in the sky behind him.

"Aw shit oh shit oh shiiiiiiiiiiiii-"

Sploosh! It's even a fairly neat little sploosh, then for a moment not a whole lot. Still not a lot until a shiny blonde surfaces with aa 'fuckfuckfuck YAS! I think my heart stopped twice but th-that was excellent."

Dylan is a little late. But it's more than a little early, so surely things balance out. He's slightly more well-prepared than Angelo, in that he's carrying a bigass towel and wearing what turns out to be two big fluffy robes as he comes running along the beach. One of the many things he is not is a runner, and Angelo passes him up quite easily, even before the whole flying thing comes into it. Yes, he's slowed down a little by shedding the towel and both robes at once as he approaches the water, but it wouldn't have made any difference.

"Damn," he says, impressed, as Angelo dives out of the sky and into the water, at which point he and his Vans are just entering the water and it's way too late to have any second thoughts. Instead he takes two big steps and dives in himself (which is far less impressive by all measures, but at least not a belly flop) and swims along underwater for a few seconds to get considerably deeper before he, too, pops up. "HOLY FUCK." He starts to straighten up a bit farther, gets his shoulders out of the water and into the air, and immediately drops them back below the surface. "Fuck. Oh fuck. How is it even colder not-submerged? I live here now. I'm stuck until Spring." Oh, right. Other people. Yes. "Hi."

At this point her body is numb, well half numb, so what's left of her body is quickly submitted with a giant, gallant sploosh, her head going under, and when she comes back up, she swings her head back in an attempt to smooth back the shirt hair,

"Why did I think that.." she shivers again and clutches herself, which honestly doesn't help, "Bad idea. Bad Blaze idea." A nod is offered to Dylan, "I'll split the rent. Eventually, body will go numb, and all will be well " she lifts her hand out of the icy depth and manages a small wave, "Hey all. I'm Blaze. Seems a good as time as any to do the intuitions thing." While freezing her arse off

"Go Brandon!" Roman calls out to the singer turned knight, and then is swimming toward him when he surfaces. He stops near B and watches as the others take the plunge, some quite literally. "Dude, that was awesome!" he calls out to the flying Angelo as he does his flying dive.

"You all are doing great!" Roman calls out to everyone as he treads water, bopping up and down in the waves as they go past.

No need to dash in. The bear does pick up a little speed, going from a mosey to a heavy footed trot as he heads for the water. He doesn't check his pace as he splashes right in and keeps going, until his paws leave the lake bottom and it turns into a churning doggy paddle.

And then he dives, vanishing into the depths of the lake, still facing straight out from shore.

"F-F-F-aaaaruugghhh--" Squeaks a voice, in a valid attempt to deal an introduction! Give Farah a moment or several, her five remaining braincells are trying to defrost!

At least the overall view is entertaining! Farah floats there, chattering, marveling at those who approach this LUNACY with gusto, even!

Pogoing in the water like he's behind the mic onstage during a frenzied, power-chord surf-rock guitar solo, Brandon is laughing because really, what the hell else can you do? It's cold, so cold, and no amount of Midwestern hardiness can really prepare a human body for just how dumb it is to hurl oneself into a nearly freezing lake. His teeth are already chattering and he's ready to head for shore-- bravado be damned, the hard part is over now-- and he's hugging his chest with his corded arms, the large, singular tattoo on his left bicep stark and dark in the sunlight.

"I w-w-w-wonder if I c-c-could regenerate a fr-fr-frostbitten toe," Brandon wonders aloud to Roman, still laughing in spite of himself, clapping his hands on the opposite arms to generate friction.

Standing by the water, but very safely out of range, Hawthorne keeps the blanket firmly around him and the thermos and cup in either hand.

"You're all doing great! Keep it up!" Will he try again? Time will tell. He does seem to be eyeing the water, but it's hard to tell if it's in curiosity or caution.

Somewhere around the time everything below her neck starts going vaguely from ice to this is fine which means partly numb, James breathes almost normally, if a little shallowly. She watches Hawthorn fucknope right back out of the water and drops her chin slightly, acknowledging the wisdom in this decision. Because now that she and everything she's wearing is wet, there's that whole idea that in order to get to the warm towels she brought, she has to get out and walk through this frigid air to do it. She contemplates these and other mistakes as Blaze makes her displeasure known, Angelo splooshes down from the air (really the smartest whole body shock choice), and Dylan praises the holies.

"Yes," she says to stuck until spring. It actually comes out fairly level, if maybe a little more breathy than her normal speaking voice. She doesn't move around much, just sort of... turns a little in the water, silently a pale faced head above water. She really can't get much more fair-skinned, and if her lips are blue it's impossible to tell past a deep brown-black lip shade she's wearing.

Roman's pep talk to all of them has her nodding. Doing great. Doing great. Doing fuckinggg great.

This is fine.

At about two and a half minutes in, she starts to crab walk for the shore, but nothing changes above water other than she's moving, moving, and finally her shoulders emerge again. She takes a shaky breath when the cool air hits wet skin. A few more degrees and it would be freezing. Whose idea was this. A few more steps and she can have heated towels. Persist, girl.

As long as Roman stays in the water he'll be fine. The moment he gets out though he knows he will the a popsicle like the rest. "Wolverine would be able to." he says to Brandon as his gaze goes to the...Holy Freaking Hell its a polar bear! Where did that come from. He didn't notice it before. "Dude!" he drawls out in his Hawaiian accent "It's a fuckin polar bear!" This may be in the top 10 best days ever for him.

"Brandon, my sister will kill me if I let you freeze to death." He looks over to Dylan who has popped up nearby "You alright, man? I mean spring is still a couple of months away."

"Do you snore?" Dylan asks Blaze when she offers to be lake-roomies. It's important to know these things. "Dylan," he adds to the introductions, while working on moving in places as much as he can without getting any more of him up out of the water and into the wind. It can't hurt to get the blood going, right? Surely?

Like Roman, he was distracted enough by other water-related things to only now note the polar bear as it's pointed out. Eyes widen a touch. Genuine polar bear. Even knowing people around here can shift to animal forms, that's A Thing all right. But the lack of trying to eat anyone bodes well.

"Fan-fuckin'-tastic!" he assures Roman in a very nearly believable tone, aside from the fact that he's pressing his teeth together to keep them from chattering, "I just need to grow gills and some blubber and I'll be set, no problem. Sounds easier'n walking back out of it and home. With the air." But James is doing it. He watches her do so, possibly to see whether she survives. Or maybe to decide whether that qualifies a challenge.

Angelo's skin is momentarily sky blue and frozen looking before the shapeshifter makes it 'normal for him' again. That's still some shock for the lungs as they are all finding out. He flashes a grin to Roman "Thank you, thank you. I feel like my body is going to hate me tomorrow. Brandon? I'll let you know. I'm wondering about that too. Dylan you made it out!"

Pushing through the pain is what gymnasts do and the other thing they do is bitch endlessly about it later as if they have discovered discomfort. He slides under again swimming over closer to some of the others. " It's colder in the air because it's moving. I think. I'm not a thermodynamics expert." He can say that right now even if his brain might be still in too much shock to spell his last name which is only the same difficulty rating as Canada.

coldcoldcold

The bear pops up again a little ways beyond the furthest of the other swimmers. Clearly enjoying himself, by the way he's grinning. He rolls over in the water and starts heading back towards shore, only his head above the surface this time.

When he finally reaches it, he walks out. Once all four feet are clear, he shakes himself like a dog. Then there's a blur of magic and it's a skinny blonde guy standing there. Dan's wrapped in a big gray officer's coat and black shemagh. His clothes are dry....but he's fairly damp underneath it, and he whoops in shock at the sudden chill.

"GodDAMN," he says. "This is colder'n a witch's tit in a brass brassiere. I salute y'all, this is like an invitation to a heart attack." He punctuates the declaration by taking a swig from a flask he clearly had stashed in a coat pocket ahead of time.

Damian is over here, just dancing along in the water to the music in his head. Or he's just trying to stay warm as much as he can when the water feels like ice after that whole cursing action. This is definitely something he has never experienced before. His teeth start to chatter.

Grinning, he takes notice of Angelo and how he comes into the water. Giving whistles for that action. He is impressed! "I'm Damian!" He calls out to any of those near him when introductions are made.

But then he's attempting to swim back to shore where hopefully warmness will be found as he starts digging for a towel to dry off before putting clothes on. The problem is wet swim trunks under sweats? He's doomed regardless.

"Even if I did, we're in the water, just push me away and problem solved" Considering she's still considered a newbie, there's a lot to take in at once. Starting with the bear that waves, then to the man with blue skin,, and circled back to the bear, who is apparently a man?

She shakes her head and pes out a breath, "This place is weird." When the bear man changes back into his human form, Blaze bites back a soft laugh, "Hate to say it l, but you get used to the temperature. I mean, either that or I've lost all feeling in my arms and legs."

At Damien's introduction, Blaze grins again, "Nice to meet you. I'm Blaze."

Watching as most of the people stay and either enjoy or suffer the water, Hawthorne does look to the ones who start making their way to shore. Seeing James he nods from beneath his wrappings of blanket with tea. "You know if this is going to be a regular thing?"

Maybe he can try next time. Or not. He can socialize without having to get IN the water right? Seeing the woman's breath intake at the cold he looks around, "Want me to grab your towel? Or blanket? Or want mine?" he offers in an attempt to help.

"Yeah, she probably would, wouldn't she," Brandon muses in response to Roman's pinpoint recognition of the certain threat to his life should the rock musician freeze to death. He has an obligation to stay alive, and the Hawaiian probably feels an obligation to keep him that way. Recognizing this, young Mr. O'Donnell grins at Roman and Angelo both through chattering teeth and says, "I c-c-c-can't put that on y-y-you guys! I'm gonna go get warm!"

And just like that, Brandon is splashing back up to the beach, making a beeline for the slight upgrade in warmth that his t-shirt and hoodie will offer.

James is walking out slowly, but steadily. The air is a nightmare of sharp stinging on her skin, but her face doesn't show it, which could leave Dylan with the false impression that everything's fine, it's not that bad. The air is sweet and refreshing, never mind that the sun isn't going to bake them warmer, because it's too early in the morning for that.

She picks her way back to the shoreline, hair never having gotten wet, pulled up as it is, so she has at least that. Makeup intact. Her slim shoulders shiver faintly, finally, as a slight breeze blows, and then all bets are off and she's jogging back to her robe and a zip-up hamper of heater towels. She points to the hamper when Hawthorne asks about towels. "Have one." She grimaces slightly. Robe up! "You need?" She tugs on the oversized fluff and turns her back to the lake, shimmying to peel off the wet suit under cover of fabric. Ziiip! She opens up the hamper and pulls out a rolled towel to stuff that under her robe like contraband and then a moment later her wet swimsuit smacks to the ground and she kicks it slightly to the side and ties herself into the warm layers. "That's..." she shivers, her teeth chattering. "Cheating," James says to Danny.

There is a notable lack of contrition in Danny's face at James's accusation. He arches a brow at her, takes another slug from the flask before lifting it at her in salute, and then tucks it away in the coat pocket. The flush on his cheeks may be explained by liquor or perhaps incipient windburn.

"Wellllll," he says, drawl stretching the monosyllable like taffy, "I suppose you're right." With a very theatrical sigh, he unwinds his scarf and unbuttons his coat. Nothing on beneath save blue board shorts and a matching long sleeve rashguard, both of them faded as if from long hours in the water.

From the other coat pocket comes a little folded square of cloth. With fingers already shaking from the chill, he unfolds it into a smallish backpack. Boots and socks, scarf and coat, all get jammed into it. Once it's all neatly stowed, he sets it aside.

Only then does he go sprinting for the water, wearing the look of a man fairly sure he's charging straight to his doom. He splashes in a few strides, then, once he's sure he's deep enough, dives under. Only to bob up immediately, the stream of muttered obscenities rendered utterly unintelligible by his chattering teeth.

"Nice to meet you, Blaze!" But Damian is already on shore and trying to warm up. He decides to just put the hoodie on, his socks, and tennis shoes because wet shorts under his sweats do not sit well with him, even as his skin goes all goosebumps because of the cold air and the water that had landed there. He pulls out a thermos. Blessed coffee in there should help warm him up.

Damian had been listening to James call Danny a cheater. He looks to see what the polar bear-turned-man will do with that accusation. When Danny enters the water as a human, he starts laughing and projects his voice, "That is balls, man!" Looking at James to see what she thinks about that.

Declan has not turned into a popsicle yet, thankfully. He's distracting himself by encouraging the rest of his group into the frigid waters and so far, everyone has attempted it with reckless abandon! Hawthorne--bless his heart--noped out pretty quick, however, and not one person around could blame him! The shock of chill had Declan rethinking every decision in his life that led him up to this point.

Yet, hubris insists that he be the last one out of the water! He spares a quick glance to Farah who lingers nearby while most of are on their way back to shore. It's not a bad idea, especially for their first dip! No point going too crazy. They'll push limits as they continue one. This is just a test.

But there are still a few out in the water for now. Dylan, Angelo, Blaze, Roman, Farah and himself remain for the time being. His will is rapidly fading though. Perhaps it's time to issue a bit of a challenge? A bit of an UNO-reverse card to salvage his dignity, even if it serves to lighten his wallet...

He wades over a little closer to Farah and stands as tall as he can before calling out in a loud, booming voice. "Last one out has to buy breakfast at Nora's!!!"

"Yeah, no, you don't want gills, they're itchy and your clothes get caught on them." Roman tells Dylan, he sounds utterly truthful, like he is speaking from experience. "I'm Roman." He introduced himself to those nearby, since everyone else is doing it.

"I think you mean evaporation, Angelo. As long as you stay in the water it's fine. Until hypothermia kicks in." Nothing he has to worry about.

Roman laughs cheerily at Brandon taking his out "I'll be sure to tell her you stayed in the longest." He calls after Brandon. Ruby won't believe him, but he has B's back.

Declan's challenge has Roman calling to him, "Dude...I could stay in here all day." And he has for both surfing and diving. He too is a less noticable cheater face. "But I can't afford breakfast for all you guys." So Roman begins to let the waves take him the the shore, bodysurfing his way back to the beach.

Once he's sure James isn't in need of help, Hawthorne glances to her with the offer. "Oh?" Heated towels. He had a blanket, but there is an appealing aspect to the preheated feature. "Sure. If you have enough."

He hadn't even been in the water long. It didn't matter. It was long enough. He has no idea how others are staying in this long.

Waiting until James has her towel he reaches for another one, bringing it under the blanket. It's then he lofts a brow at James' moving about only to watch the swimsuit fall to the ground. He blinks at it a moment before looking to James. Surely the pink in his cheeks is from the lingering cold. "The towel is very warm. Thank you." At the challenge from Declan he shakes his head, "Definitely glad I didn't stay in long. That is going to be a terrifying bill."

Watching as Danny answers James' accusation he grins. After that, he steps over to his shoes to put his feet back in one at a time. Another glance then to James, "I'm Hawthorne by the way."

From the shore, his faded green hoodie already proving a loose, casual comfort if not much in the way of actual warmth, Brandon appears mildly amused by the who-stays-in-longer braggadocio. For once, it’s not his competitive nature—more that quiet, self-assured carriage of someone who grew up on the lakeshore and is honestly enjoying others discovering the sort of hidden gems he and his friends took for granted long ago. He doesn’t mind sharing.

Then, stifling a yawn, he bends down to don his socks and his Nikes before picking up his sweat-soaked t-shirt.

James is too busy wrapping herself in another heated towel to say more on Danny's cheating, but then she glances over just in time to see him take off for the water all in normal person form and her mouth opens, but she doesn't manage to say anything before he splashes down! "...Oh." There's a glances over at Hawthorne nearby and she makes a little face, like ooops.

Her green eyes turn to the others and she lifts her shoulders in a little shrug when she sees Damian looking her way. A laugh follows, and she bends to dig around for her flannel pajama pants to start redressing under the cover of her robe once some of the lake water's been toweled off. "Reputation," she says, and then hesitates. "Clear." She cuts a hand through the air like the matter's been settled, honor restored!

She laughs out loud when Declan lays his challenge at the feet of his fellow soggy Spellbound workers. She picks up her clothes and takes a few steps back to leave room for a splashing rush, just in case there is one. She nudges the hamper of heated towels to Hawthorne. There are two toasty warm towels wrapped up inside still. "No lie," she says, smiling with a nod to H. "James."

Dan doesn't immediately dash back out of the water. Rather, he puts his fingers to his lips and whistles loudly, an upscaling note. The purpose of this signal is revealed moments later when a black and white fluffy dog appears out of the relative warmth of the ferry dock shelter.

He's got the handle of a navy blue duffel bag clenched in his teeth, which he deposits at Danny's feet, curled tail wagging furiously. For his efforts, he gets petting and praise, before San takes a knee to rummage hastily through it.

The former bear comes up with a changing poncho that he dons hastily. It only takes him a moment to dry off with it, and then use it to change into the white t-shirt and gray sweats the dog's brought him. Dan's still shivering as he retrieves his coat and sits down to put his boots back on. These efforts are somewhat hampered by the good boy who keeps trying to lick his face, not at all discouraged by Danny pushing his muzzle away. All just a game to the big Malamute, clearly.

At this point, Blaze is numb; she's beyond numb, her numb is numb, which means she's spent more than enough time in the ice-cold water. It takes her a moment or two to realize that people are exiting the frigid wet blanket, "Nora's?" She asks, to anyone who might be close enough to answer.

Despite the question, she makes her way to the shore, her body soon overcome by full-body shivers and the pain that comes with leaving that kind of cold. Normally, pain doesn't bother her, but it seems today isn't one of those days, so as soon as her skin starts to warm up, she releases a string of curse words that would make a sailor blush, and does what she can to pull her housecoat on.

"James," Hawthorne commits the name to memory with a smile. "Nice to meet you." He watches as more people leave the water. "I don't get how everyone is lasting so long. I...well." We don't talk about that!

"I tried." He did honest! Not for very long. Still he tried!

Damian laughs as he watches the others get out of the water. He's not paying for Nora's! He's not sure who all is left. He grinned as he listened to the interaction between James and Danny, no matter how short-lived. The dog fetching and giving Danny items impresses him, and he walks over there once he is clothed to the best of his ability. He decided to wrap a towel around his waist to use as a blanket, skirt, whatever. He would not put his sweats back on and have double the wet.

Once he gets closer to Danny, he offers his hand out, "Damian. I found out recently I can shift to." By shifting, he means change into an animal form.

"Look, need and want are not the same thing," Dylan replies woefully to Roman, and to both him and Angelo, "And scientifically I know how but I mean... hoooooooowwwwww?!" The anguish on the last word would be fairly described as hammy even if it's probably also pretty sincere at the moment, and there's clearly gesticulation happening under the surface even if the refusal to lift his arms back out of the water makes it hard to tell exactly what. The gist is still pretty clear.

He watches James as she picks her way out of the water and into the air (albeit not the same way Angelo tends to go into the air), looking faintly dubious, then equally faintly impressed by her towel hamper. His towel is just lying on the ground there, probably freezing as much as its owner. She also gets a nod of agreement to her accusation that actually being a polar bear is cheating, but hey, Danny makes good on it, which is clearly noted. A hand actually emerges from the water to lift a finger emphatically and correct Damian: "That was balls." There are many aspects of entering this lake today that he regrets.

Declan's declaration might turn out to be the next one, even as he takes the cue to start moving back toward the shore... albeit without straightening up yet. "Ha, joke's on you, Iiiiii.... think I forgot my wallet, fuck, Angelo can you carry a guy with you when you fly?" The expected answer is clearly no, as he gives up and braves the air, expression -- unlike James's -- immediately saying that yes this was exactly as bad an idea as he thought it was going to be.

It's all the more incentive to go as fast as he can manage through the shallows and up to where his towel's abandoned, snatching it up and wrapping it around himself. It's a fairly large towel, and absorbent, so he'll cope with not-heated, for now. "Also cheating!" he declares when a big dog shows up to bring Danny fresh clothes. Dylan has to make do with some very active drying of his upper body, then leaving the towel around his waist while he pulls on robe number one and ties it firmly shut. A not wet shoe gets pulled from each pocket and dropped to the ground, and he steps out of the wet pair, towel reappearing to dry each foot before sliding it into a dry shoe. He pulls the second robe on over the first with some effort, ties that one up, and then it's time to towel off the lower half, wet shorts dropping to get shoved in one of the outer robe's pockets.

James nods to Hawthorne. "You too," she says, without a hitch this time. A smile answers his words, even though the exchange is brief. "You did." She tap-taps her cheek with a finger. "Saw it... myself." She takes a little breath after that and digs up some more clothes, shuffling into a thick sweater with some sleeve maneuvers to get it on smoothly under her robe. It's easy to tell who's used to dressing poolside under a towel in a situation like this—ex swim team unite.

Though she does glance over the bodies in water waiting to see who's left behind to pay, she's shortly a little distracted by the appearance of a big dog, which makes her smile, even if she doesn't approach. She notes Damian going over to talk to Danny nearby, of course, since, you know, proximity to large pup.

She does pause to offer Blaze her last warm towel, the rolled up cloth offered over without comment.

A smile lingers on her dark-painted lips. Dylan's observations are clocked and she nods to that was balls. She gestures for him to hurry when he says he forgot his wall, because there's still time to escape the bill! An attempt at stealth, but not really hat sneaky, thumbs-up is offered to Dylan as he seems to escape footing brekky.

Brandon gives his arms a little shake, dressed again in his running gear, minus the sweaty t-shirt wrapped around his left hand like a boxing glove. Oddly, the longer he’s out of the water doing nothing, the more relaxed, more chill he seems but also the less… chilled? He’s still cold, anyone would be, but the effect of the plunge on his body at this point is no more than if he’d been out for a walk.

Popping his AirPods into his ears, he taps his watch—on the opposite wrist from all those woven bracelets—and smiles to himself as music kicks in. Then with a wave off towards Roman and another toward Angelo, he turns and begins jogging back up the beach towards town. There’s albums to write and dragons to slay.

As Roman comes out of the water the cold hits him hard. He is shivering within seconds, unlike when he was in the water. "Damn...I'm out. I'm out." he looks from the water to where is own things are. "If I go back in would I still have to buy breakfast?" he ponders that question a moment "Never mind, either way I would have to come back out." he rubs his bare arms as he runs up the beach, returning the wave to Brandon "Later man!"

Having learned a trick the other day. Thanks Angelo! Roman pulls out a warm and toasty towel from his pack and wraps it around him. Glancing around he spots the shivering Dylan and walks over to hand him the hand warmers he had wrapped in his towels. They are still kicking off some heat. "It's not much, but it won't hurt."

Roman then looks around "You all did great." he said it before, but it is worth repeating. There is a look over to Danny "Way to beat the system!" he praises the man "Much more theatric than mine."

Blaze accepts the offered towel with a smile, and her robe is discarded, the warm towel taking its place, "Uhhhh that's so much better." Her attention shifts to James, "Thank you." Standing off to the side she listens to the swirling conversation around her. Since she's still the new kid, she doesn't interject herself, at least not yet, but if the group of them start to move away from the freezing water to this "Nora's", she will, undoubtedly join.

Angelo, for all his endless bravado, does not stay out there forever and instead of swimming back he pulls himself up to the surface to clear the water enough to try to fly out of it without wings being stuck because capillary action is mean. IT does not and the stuck s and pull him to the water instead of up. There is a short lived panic of "Shitshitshit!" Thankfully unlike other bugs he can pull them back to avoid sinking.

Project successfully failed!

Turning to float on his back a moment to catch his breath he begins the far slower, tedious process of getting back. He looks absolutely tired. He does reach the shore frozen and winded he takes a moment to crouch there catching his breath, arms a little like he'd been on rings for 12 minutes without a rest; jelly. If there's a hand he will happily take that to stand before finding his towel and his stadium jacket. "Yeah that was a bad plan. I think I pulled something."

Pulling his towel out that's been snuggling the handwarmers he says to Roman, "See?" he knows. There's a weak smile and he bundles on up with a wince.

James nods to Blaze. "Pleasure," she says, after handing off the heated towel. The smile is warm when it follows and she starts to say something else, but Blaze is moving off and into the chilly morning. "See you," she says, and then turns her attention back to the water now that she's shimmied into clothing. She keeps her robe, though, because flannel PJs and a cropped sweater are all fine and good until you realize you've grabbed a cropped sweater instead of a full length one and it is not belly shirt season. She nods to Roman, laughing softly but congratulating him with a thumbs up when he makes it out of the water.

Angelo's fervent but short-lived panic catches her gaze. She steps over to offer a hand up to him after that, taking a few steps over. And then she tugs on the collar of her robe and asks, "Need ... robe?" She'll give it up for someone else who's freezing, because she does still have a lukewarm towel too. Robe's mostly dry, even. She starts to shrug out of it to offer it over. That first step out of the freeze is a doozy.

Declan grabs Farah and all but drags her to the shoreline with as much playful, careful haste as possible. It's...cold. Really cold and it seems that these two chuckleheads are about the last two remaining. So, time to make good on his deal to buy breakfast! And he needs to get out soon lest the affects of the water really start taking their toll. With Farah's hand in his, he gives her one brief tug before he hugs her to him scoops her up out of the lake, cradling her so that, yes indeed, he can be crowned 'last one out'.

Those two are well on their way out whenever Angelo has that winged-whoopsie. His eyes go wide, but thankfully he makes it to shore without too much trouble and is out of harm's way. He doesn't comment on it now, but he'll surely mention it when they meet up later on.

"Victoryyyyy!" He laughs while toting that slip of a woman in his arms toward the supplies to dry off. He shares a quick grin down at her before setting her down by her stuff and shuffling over to find his towel. His somewhat tanned skin is hued rather red at the moment as blood rushes about. Declan hastily dries himself off but his teeth go a-chattering. "Mmmkay...so..Nora's. Breakfast. I'm buyin'."

"S--see everyone there?" He's dry now, but he's still vigorously rubbing himself with the towel in an attempt to warm himself up via friction. "Oh, yeah. Thanks for coming everyone!! We'll get better at this the more we do it, eh? See everyone next week, k byyye!" He eases over to Farah and starts helping her gather things so they can beat feet over to Nora's as fast as possible.

Angelo looks up James looking like he's struggling a bit there. A nod to her, "That'd- that'd be great thanks." he's still moving gingerly here trying to dry off and pull things back on enough. "Roman... remind me to practice that at your tank where it's at least warmer. That did noooot go well."

Getting his hoes on but not tied he upnods to Declan. "I think I'm going to swing through the clinic first. Meet you there man." His right arm is not cooperating as much as he'd like it to." Looking up to James being frozen and helpful he says "Hi. Angelo. Roman." He flicks a point to his Cove buddy there. "We did the thing. So proud. So ffffffffffffrozen." Deep breaths. it'll all repair in a day or so. It's fine. it's all very hopefully fine.

A thumbs up is given right back to James "Poise, you got it in spades." he noticed the reactions of everyone as they got into the water, at least those that got in before and after him.

There is a wince at Angelo's failed attempt at whatever that was supposed to be. "Dude, are you okay?" the man isn't bleeding, there are no bones showing, and he is upright at talking so must be a walk it off kind of hurt. "No problem. I'll put you on the rehearsal calendar and let you know." he grins "We did the thing!" he crows.

"Thanks for setting this up. Sign me up for the next one!" Roman says to Declan as he starts to gather his things. "I'll see you all at Nora's!"

And Angelo's towel trick moves on another level, 'cause you can be damn sure Dylan's making a note of that for next time. Arguably a better mental note would involve there not being a next time, but let's be reasonable here. "Thanks, man," he says, teeth chattering a touch but grin genuine. It is in fact his hands that he warms with it, pauses to pull a pair of too-thin-for-the-weather rolled up gym pants from another pocket and tug them on, and then goes back to warming his hands. Poor cold hands. He tries it on his ears, too, which seems to be one of the better ideas he's had today.

The shitshitshit from the water gets his attention, and he winces as Angelo gets dragged back by the water. He's just a touch slower than James to get over there to offer a hand, considers briefly, and reaches out to take Angelo's other hand to help lever the guy up. "Nah, don't," he tells James at her offer, "...I've got two." Which was also one of the better ideas he's had today, but he was not raised to let a lady freeze. Or Angelo either. "Try not to lose my shoes though. I like those," he says, as he unties the outer robe and starts wiggling the arms back off.

"Dylan," he adds to James as Angelo tosses out some intros. Angelo gets a faintly concerned look as he mentions swinging by the clinic, but as Dylan's medical skills are near nil, all he has to offer is, "Save you a seat?"

James hands off her robe to Angelo after getting him to his feet with Dylan's help. "Looked painful," she says, wincing in sympathy. The robe's clearly cut for someone about five foot eleven, so it might fall a little long, and it's definitely built for someone with a bigger frame than both James and Angelo, but that just makes it cozy af. James rolls up the towels she finds nearby and stuffs them into the towel hamper, grinning to Roman at the comment. Dylan's introduction gets a, "James," back.

"Poker face," she says to Roman, and then zips the hamper closed, straightening after she collects all of her stuff to drag and dump outside Nora's. She looks over, concerned, when Angelo mentions the clinic, and considers saying something more. She raises a hand like she might touch his shoulder, but doesn't. Ultimately, she chooses to say, "Walk you?" Which is probably walk with you, but her economy of language can make it a little confusing sometimes.

She watches Declan and Farah go, dipping cold water as they go, as if the jog'll dry them off a bit before they hit breakfast. She pulls out her phone and texts a friend at the diner to be ready with a few carafes of hot coffee and hot cocoa. That job done, she tucks her phone into her pocket and nods to Angelo to lead the way. She hasn't actually been to the clinic on the islands.

Angelo looks mad at himself more than anything. "I'm not fine right now, but I will be fine." Looking to Dylan with a thanks as he is up and now able to get mostly dried and most of his clothes on says "Yeah totally save me a seat. Appreciate it. Hot coffee if she asks."

Someone is on the struggle bus, but he's absolutely not a stranger to the wide world of beating one's self up accidentally. Looking to James he considers and nods, "That'd be great. Thanks. Appreciate it." All very short sentences from him right now. Getting into his coat he deals with like ones does. "Overall this was a good idea. Don't know if I'm ready to play-" wince and the coast is on and zipped "Titanic again tomorrow but next week sounds good." There's a nod to Dylan and Roman still there and he says "Catch you up shortly yeah?"

Though he'll be appearing at Nora's later in a sling for the next day or so and then be back on like nothing ever happened by weekend.

After giving Danny his name, Damian picks up his pack and follows the group on their way to Nora's. Telling the other animal shifter, "See you there, maybe?" But then he is jogging to join the party that is headed that way. Grinning as he does that. Talk about a wake-up call!

"Not cheating, just prep," Danny retorts serenely, before shaking Damian's hand. "Danny Kimball, glad to meet ya. This fine fellow is Beren." He indicates the Malamute with a wave of his hand.

Roman gets a lazy grin. "Fight smarter, not harder." Angelo's cries get him a sharp look, but when it's clear there's no real danger he stoops to pick up his bags. Off to Nora's it is.