2025-01-30 - Piracy and Pin Trading

It's a sunny day in late January, and while there is still a chill in the air, the bright blue sky carries the promise that the first days of spring might be just around the corner! There's a gentle breeze across the still blue waters of the lake, which glitter bright blue in the afternoon sunshine. It's the lull between lunch and dinner when things don't seem quite so active for some reason, and the ferries back and forth to Crescent Island are pretty much deserted.

Deserted as they might be, however, a 24/7 365 ferry service is still a 24/7 365 ferry service, and Auggie keeps that big wheel turning as Ol' Betsy makes her rounds back and forth across the lake, ferrying passengers hither and thither. They're currently moored up at one of the docks, and Auggie is in the wheelhouse, keeping an eye on the clock as he plays with Bubbles, his otter familiar, who scampers around like he own the place (he basically does).

Auggie is wearing his captain's hat slightly askew, doing little to contain his riot of blond curls. He's dressed pretty simply today in just a well-fitted, short-sleeve henley top and a pair of seafoam blue boat shorts. The shirt is unbuttoned just enough to show off a pendant n a silver chain, and he's wearing a variety of beaded and hemp bracelets on each of his wrists. A pair of aviator sunglasses are perched on the bridge of his nose. Everywhere his skin shows...so his face, arms, legs and a flash of his chest, seems to sparkle a natural iridescent gold in the sunlight. It makes for quite the show.

A great buzzing brings a grownass young man with katydid wings and a russet coloured frock coat toward the boat looking a bit like a flurry of dried leaves. He is carrying something with him. "AHOY Cap'n. Permission to board?" Says Angelo dressed as Cap'n Cashew at present. coming up to the railing he perches on it in a crouch, wings out to calibrate but he looks solid- not that he can't fly and correct this. The sun seems to bounces off of his skin in a shimmer and little gold motes of like seem to shine around him like light catching dust through a late afternoon window. This he cannot fix. Pixies should be shiny though, right?

Like Auggie he's got a collection of hand woven jewelry. Most of his kit is costume for the show but being a California boy he's got the cowrie shell necklace that doesn't break the illusion at least. Looking around he says with a warm, dimpled grin, "Awww, looks like I beat the crowds today. Where's next port?"

It is Bubbles who notices the approach of the man-size pixie first, and the River Otter comes scampering out of the wheelhouse with an excitable chatter, hopping up and down to try and (unsuccessfully) clamber up and onto Angelo when he alights on the railing. He's courageous and very friendly, as far as otter folk go, and Angelo is just spectacular enough to have caught his attention above even the half a spray that's hanging out of the side of his mouth this afternoon.

Bubbles' arrival is followed shortly thereafter by the sound of bare feet pounding against the deck as Auggie chases after his familiar, appearing at the door amid a bout of happy laughter. Have Auggie and Angelo ever met before? Who knows! But still, Auggie has this way of just being everyone's friend, more or less immediately. It's not even false like some people can be, either, he's just genuinely very warm and very engaging! "It's Cap'n Cashew!" he crows, recognising him from the posters immediately as he snaps to a rather sloppy-looking salute. "Cap'n Auggie reporting for duty! Sir!" he laughs again, still beaming from ear to ear.

Angelo looks to the water puppy of a bitty bitey predator and makes some little clicky noises at him like he would a land puppy. Looking at Auggie's approach he laughs and holds his hands in the air, "Awww I thought you'd say no. It's hard to be a pirate when you go places and they just invite ya in. You're damaging my salty street rep. I brought ya something."

If there's anything in the world that can bother Angelo and put him off it's hard to find. Looking to the otter he holds out his hand to offer him a shake or a low five. There's some trust that if he's free range he's probably not libel to maul anyone. If he does Angelo will get over it by lunch tomorrow...probably.

Stepping down like he's just comfortable hopping from rails to deck he comes over returning the salute with a little turnout of his wrist in some stage flare. "Figured it could be fun. They let me make some stuff and I thought like you and Angel could have some fun with it and...well Kellin even though his name doesn't start with an 'Ayyy'." Angelo shakes his head looking to Auggie, "How can someone be a cap'n without an A name?" Still no live audience so it becomes Auggie and and that's fine as he's the one he's come to see. "How ya been?"

Bubbles chatters away delightedly in response to Angelo's little clicky noises and then starts jumping up to inspect the offered hand, turning it this way and that and sniffing on it curiously. When it turns out that the offered hand is neither a snack itself nor does it contain a snack, the perceived value of it diminishes significantly, and Bubbles is soon charging off back in the direction of his bed (in the wheelhouse) to finish off the dried sprat he'd been working on immediately before Angelo crash landed on his railing.

Bubbles sudden departure gets another laugh from Auggie, who steps forward with a laugh. "You gotta come bearing snacks, man! you know that!" Auggie beams, extending his fist for a bump whenever they get close enough. It seems like Auggie might not have seen Angelo since he developed permanent body glitter, since when Auggie gets close enough to notice it, his eyes widen. "Whoa!" Auggie beams, stepping forward to hold his own goldenly iridescent arm against the nearest bare patch of Angelo's skin. "We're like....sun and moon, right?" he grins enthusiastically, gesturing between them.

Auggies takes a step back when Angelo hops down, giving him room to find his footing on the deck. "Oh yeah?!" Auggie asks when Angelo mentions making some stuff. "Sweet, what is it?" he chatters away. At least, until getting the realisation that CASHEW does not start with A which produces a snort of laughter as he gestures for Angelo to follow him forward towards the wheelhouse.

Angelo says in defense, "My sister snagged them from m'pockets this mornin. I thought I had em." Saint...isn't. She is great on snack acquisition however. When Auggie points this out Angelo's eyebrow arch high and he slides over pulling up his sleeve comparing the warm, tan shimmer against the cooler one Auggie's got, "Awww see I knew you were my people. I love it!" For this August is given the shoulder squeeze. "See now we gotta get your boat a pair of wings and we'll match...enough." For various interpretation of ferry wings.

Angelo does start with an A and he's counting it apparently. There's a shakes of his head as the swagger of boots on cushioned rubber soles carries him to follow. "So we've been in cahoots with yon runt wrangler, Aisley-" He says of the Nanny now thinking about it, "Prolly also a cap'n and I'm thinking we need to get her a hat. Anyway, we're trying to get things together for a fairy themed birthday party for them and I said I'd go bother people about what we can make for souvenirs. I foooound and untapped and forgotten bag of pins. I thought it'd be cool for all of us on the pixie crew to have some to sort out with park goers but there's not always a lot of us so I thought ferry captains are also... you count and thought you might like some cool pins too. Be part of the team."

He pulls out what looks like a velour drawstring bag (thanks props team) with inside what looks like a holofoil star with Yarble with butterfly wings. "Isn't he cute? Yarble's the best of us." Looking to the critters there he says with his hands out very officially, "I knoooow, I'm sorry. I owe ye snacks."

Auggie laughs again as Angelo makes excuses for his snack=deprived state when Bubbles goes scampering off back in the direction of his bed, where he is already noisily chomping on the tail end of a dried-out sprat Auggie had fed him shortly before Angelo had touched down on their (it is definitely Bubbles' as much as it is Auggie's!) handrailing! The laughter only grows more raucous when the comparison of their mutual built-in shimmer produces an affirmation that they are one another's people.

"See! I totally knew it, dude!" Auggie chirps in agreement, excitably bumping shoulders with Angelo and jostling him a little as they make their way towards the wheelhouse at the front of the boat. "I dunno about Ol Betsy..." this being the name of the ferry "...would feel about a big pair of costume wings," he admits, glancing over his shoulder and down her lower deck thoughtfully. Looking back at Angelo, Auggie blinks at the mention of Aisley; he's never met them ,it seems, though this doesn't seem to dampen his interest. The idea of pins does catch his interest however, and he immediately crows out "Heck yeah I want a pin!" when there's a suggestion of one, especially if it gets him into a secret club.

The sight of the pin produces a squee of excitement from the ever-excitable Auggie! "Oh DUDE! I've been wanting Yarble merch!" he beams, reaching up to pull the captain's hat off of his head and attach the pin to it in pride of place at the front. "So fricking cool!" he grins, setting it back atop his head at a jaunty angle.

Angelo seems a bit charmed and delighted by this revelation of shininess shared here. Opening the bag further he says "Yeah I think there was supposed to be a promotion for them that got dropped somewhere, or I dunno. I figure I could grab a few and distro them. This set is for you so if someone wants to pin trade with you you can share the love that is Yarble on the team."

He looks around before leaning in with an eyebrow raised and a conspiratorial tone. "Did I save one for me on my pinboard at home? Yes, yes I did." A suggestion to do the same? Absolutely. The bag probably has about fifty of them. "I think there's different colours. I'm going to see if Angel and Kellin and them want to buy in. Encourages people to visit the other areas." Looking around he says loudly as if they were listening, "You're WELCOME Promotions team." There's the suspicious look but nothing responds.

He can't not laugh at Auggie's effusive response though. There's a squint of one eye and a tongue stuck out in a juvenile and somehow in character response, "Feh, you're cool. Right on matey check you out. How's things been out here for you and the team?"

"Dude! Sweet!" Auggie beams, reaching over to take hold of the rest of the little bag of pins. Providing Angelo forks it over, he'll open it up and give a little shake, peering around inside, before closing the bag back up and hanging the drawstrings around his wrist, at least until he makes it back as far as the wheelhouse. "That's gonna be so sick, thanks man!" Auggie beams and then moves to chuck arms around Angelo in a big, squishy hug if he seems amenable - being careful not to crush the wings, obviously.

Letting go of Angelo once more, Auggie goes briefly wide-eyed when he briefly thanks the production team, and Auggie peers furtively this way and that, as though he was looking for a team of marketing interns to suddenly erupt from behind one of the seats. They don;t, however, and Auggie is soon looking back to Angelo with that same, wide-eyed grin. With his pin on his hat and his hat back on his head, he gives a twirl to show off his new style and then relaxes a little, perching on the back of one of the seats. "Things are pretty good man. Ferry life is pretty easy, plus I get to meet just about everyone, right? How about at the pirate cove?" he asks, eyebrows lifting curiously as he does.

Angelo actually does part with the tradeable bounty to August. "No problem. I figure it makes that first trip in the morning more fun. Get the excitement up for folks. They say kids love it but are we not all just kids with a lot of work experience? Except Enzo. He might have been born at 35." He's got a lot of wondering in this.

Angelo folds the wings back to make himself less crunchy and more huggable so it's not so like hugging a pile of dried leaves. "I love you pick up energy off the joy of others. People are exhausting but pretty great. The fashion show of the new pin gets a small applause. yes good!

"Venture Cove is doing good! I was informed of some new show notes now that we're undecorated from teh holidays, plural. Cross voyage fantasy expedition trip with Kai the Trickster of the Waves, Ty the Bard, and a couple others. I'm wondering if this is like part two of breaking into Yarble's mountain to surprise him. That was a fun story December. Dodging the ice mephets was fun stuff. Cold but fun." Bewildered he admits, "I thought they meant 'muppets' and I was so confused like I didn't think we had access to that IP but no, little ice monsters."

Leaning back on the railing he says with some admiration, "You do get to see everyone except the people teleporting in the glass or whatever and those of us zipping around. I'll have to stop by more though. I think that's why I like the little expositions we get to do at the fountain. More close up to the people we're doing things for who aren't like over-" His hand flaps vaguely that way, "There."

"I'm gonna get these babies forked out super fast!" Auggie reassures with a grin, only to laugh at the idea that he's just a kid with too much work experience. "Not me, I'm pretty much still just a big kid really. I just got bigger toys," Auggie laughs happily, taking a step back from their hug and nudging his head along the deck in the direction of the wheelhouse to suggest that Angelo follow along with him. "Gotta get this baby in motion!" Auggie explains with a grin as he explains "Some of us gotta keep to a pretty tight schedule!" he teases, and indeed, the ferry must run, come wind or snow or...

As they go, Auggie listens to Angeo talking about what's going on down at Venture Cove. "That sounds awesome!" Auggie nods away enthusiastically at the new show. "You can pretty much guarantee me a seat if Kai is gonna be in it, he's fricking hot" Auggie affirms with a toothy grin as they pass through the door of the wheelhouse. "Not that you're not also suitably visually appealing Cap'n Cashew, it just seems rude when you're stood right there, right?" Auggie excuses himself, checking the clock on the wall and starting Ol' Betsy's engine sputtering to life.

"All aboard! Okay my dudes, dudettes and other nongendered friends, we're gonna get this show on the road in just a couple of minutes. Next stop is...Castle Island! So hold onto your butts and we'll be arriving in just about fifteen!" he explains happily on the ship's PA before setting it down and looking back at Angelo as he continues to chatter away. "Oh. My. Gosh. Those ice Mephets were the Cutest did you see when they nearly took over Swan Lake also? I wanna find 'em all just like pokemon..." Auggie enthuses, and indeed, with Auggie's well-known love of and concern for animals, it is easy to imagine hi doing just that!

Angelo grins and says "You know one of my earlier family trip memories was going to the theme parks and getting like the lanyard and the starter pins and my sibs and I would wander around and try to shake down the staff to trade with them seeing who could complete their set first and get the most. We were uhhhh not observant with Math. I think it was Dante that figured out by trading you never have any more or less than you start with." He shakes his head. Shame that.

Angelo flashes a wide, warm grin to August shaking his head, "No slight taken. He's amazing and has better hair than any of us on a given day. It's absolutely a true statement." He is neither threatened nor shy about the compliments to the other man. "Should be pretty dope because he does things I cannot do and it's really going to add ot the show I think. He's gonna look awesome."

When August calls the all aboard he calls out after him falling back into character, "Step lively, ye landlubbers, treasure don't see itself! To the Castle's coffers we go we go! WOO!" If Peter Pan and the Pirates had a kid named after a nut this character might really just be the result.

Looking to August he lowers his voice snickering, "I was there. Friend's roomie was in the show and I watched em train in teh gym long enough. Really wanted to see the end result. Those little icy bitey boys were cute but they stung."

August can't help but burst into a happy laugh when Cap'n Cashew starts yelling at the passengers in character about going to plunder some castle boothy. It catches him by surprise enough that he snorts a little and reaches over to give Angelo a playful shove. Even so, Auggie certainly seems to approve of having the same old ferry trip lightened up a little and he mutters "So cool" to himself as he turns his own attention to the helm.

Auggie listens and then laughs happily when Angelo shares his pin-trading story. "It doesn't matter, dude! You get new pins! better pins!" Auggie insists with that indefatigable grin of his. "I was never so much into theme parks until my mom got the job at Spellbound. We went down to Anaheim now and then, but mostly, I just wanted to be at the beach all summer," Auggie explains, setting the engine into gear once all the lines have been cast off and beginning to pull away from the dock. The ferries are sturdy little beasts and very reliable, but they're not fast, so these little island hops take a fair bit of time.

Auggie has to focus for a minute or two (it's actually a somewhat skilful job!) until they clear the dock, though he's still smiling and bobbing his head along with Angelo as he talks about the show. "That's gonna be so awesome, man. I mean actual pirates and an actual cheeky monkey and an actual merdude all in the same show is gonna be so cool," he glances over at Angelo and offers an easy grin. "The kids'll go fricking wild for it I bet," he affirms. "I always hear 'em singing the songs and stuff when they get back on the ferry, it's crazy popular."

Angelo looks to looks to August and says "I love those trips to Anaheim. I was the kid who was like anything to go fast. Your beach needed to be closer to my beach man. I feel like we missed out on valuable time hanging out." Looking to the few travelers heading back to the resort for the id-day rest and unburdening of things in their rooms he flies up to perch on top of the cabin as they board and head inside.

There's a bright grin as they come onboard getting a little salute with two fingers from Angelo Cap'n Cashew. "Ah! I see you are encumbered with a good haul. Come in and set it down while we get ya back." He looks back "Captaaaaaaaaaain Whoisnotme," he says to August, and then with a chuckle, "WE got a fine lot here, and I think they'll make a fine crew if we run into dragon flies."

To the little man in the tricorn boarding with his parents he says "That's a fine, fine hat ye got there lad. What's your name? Shaun? I don't think we got us a Shaun yet so if you're looking to make a career of pirating see me later. You wear the hat well and that's like half the job. You've got a great start." Looking to the do-captain come back on closing the gate and untying them from the dock she is giving the thumbs up from the back.

Angelo walks up and takes the walkie trying not to laugh; it's a grin with his tongue out at August having too much fun with the other. "Ya might know me as Captain Cashew and I am very excited to tell you we have a mighty find crew with us today with Captain August and Co-Captain Annie back there. You ever want to be a boat captain pick a name with an A at the front. Now I'm going to turn this over so he can tell ye what'cha need to know. And after that we'll have some fun with it, and even teach you a neeeew shanty we haven't even shared with the cove yet. It's all about the little otter fella that is coming up on deck with us."

He hands the radio over to August and says to him, "I love our job. Remind me to commandeer your ship again soon." He lets the actual crew do their actual job after warming up the crowd just enjoying spending time up close with folks. "Also remind me to bring otter snacks. I disappointed him so much." The only sad part of the day.