In the Firelight

In the Firelight
Delinquent Ward had become a huge sensation, especially with the introduction of Saffron as their drummer. If they thought their fame had been on the rise before, the spitfire blonde strapped a rocket to their back and shot them into the stratosphere. Emma had been right; the Fairy Tail mage would be a huge draw to their already talented group. Within weeks of getting her incorporated, their first gig took the land by storm and soon they were in even higher demand than before. And with the festival coming, it seemed the perfect time to start booking some high paying performances all over Fiore. But the one thing Xavier never avoided was taking time to sit back and enjoy any free time they could get. Especially if requests for a tour to be started started becoming a tangible plan for the future.

Plus it was important for all of them to spend time together as a band outside of playing. So he’d asked them all to accompany him to one of the bonfire celebrations that would be taking place in town. Their latest gig had taken them to Cedar, a quaint little port town that had a lovely beach just south of the city. Across the nation there were lots of different celebrations happening and there were a few happening in Cedar itself but something about the bonfire on the beach really appealed to Xavier. So he’d invited his other three bandmates along with him and headed down to the beach early to find them a seat. And boy, were the sands bustling; people from Cedar and beyond had come with picnic stuff and swimsuits to get in a late afternoon swim in.

Xavier laid out a rather large blanket in one of the few open spots nearest the bonfire placement, easy enough to fit four people. He’d even stopped and grabbed a cooler with some food and beer inside for them to enjoy, though it looked like there were businesses setting up a few stalls for free stuff to give away. The guildmaster of Confidence International  was dressed rather casually, all things considered. A loose black shirt that had a single button on the inside, it was a laid back version of a dress shirt. He didn’t wear anything underneath, save for a golden necklace. He also had a pair of clean white pants and a simple pair of shoes; no reason to dress for his ‘hoes’ this time.

He set the stuff down and walked over to the bonfire pit. They’d done a good job of building a massive, circular area, the former God-King wondering if people grabbed the rocks or simply used magic to bring them together. The logs that would be used to burn had been erected to lay against one another in layers, wood gathered in a cone shape all the way to the center. The fire was going to be massive, there was no doubt about that. A few people gave him some sideways looks, narrowing their gazes as if they could recognize him. Before they could get a good look at him, Xavier tossed on a pair of thick black glasses and buried his head in his iLac as he walked back to their blanket.

What was supposed to be a group hang out was becoming a one on one situation. Emma apparently had lined up a date and wasn’t going to be able to show up. And Nik had gotten invited by another friend in the city to go to a different festival. Well hell, if it was just gonna be him and Saffron, then that’s just how it would be. He sure wasn’t going to complain. Though they’d only known each other for a short time, he found he really enjoyed being around the bombshell. That, of course, only made things more complicated; both because she was a bandmate and also because she was a mentee to Vandrad. He’d told himself that he wouldn’t use her to get to Vandrad; that he could find his own way to get a face to face with the du Wolff. No doubt it was still going to cause some issues, especially once who he was came out, but it was for the greater good. But it was hard not to find usefulness in talking to Saffron and getting bits of information; at least enough for him to know what he would be going up against.

With a sigh, he reached over to the cooler and reached in to grab a beer. Popping the top off, he took a sip as he stared out at the ocean, getting lost in his own thoughts while he waited for Saffron.

In the Firelight
Xavier was in his own little world with his iLac, mostly because he could already hear the whispers. Despite putting his sunglasses on and keeping his head down, he had an unmistakable look about him and anyone that was a decent fan would pick him out of the crowd any day. Luckily no one seemed too bold to approach him yet. As he flipped through a couple of screens, he finally heard the familiar, energetic voice of Saffron. Smirking before he even bothered to look at her, he shook his head. "Y’know, you make me sound like a pimp more than I really am. I just ain’t one to be disrespectful to fans,” he remarked as he closed his iLac and finally turned to look at her. "Oh damn.” There was nothing he could do to prepare any kind of covering comment as his eyes came upon her outfit, a cover for her bathing suit that hugged her tight in all the right places.

Hell, he even had to pull his sunglasses down to look at her fully. "Wearing something that nice, I kinda expect the same for you,” he said, flashing her a grin. They’d spent enough time at that point that he was unafraid to flirt with her, unhindered by rules or taboos. Though he had no intent on breaking the one cardinal rule that the band members had -- don’t sleep with one another -- he wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t notice when she looked damn fine. After all, he’d have to be an idiot to not pick up on the crackling chemistry between them and frankly she kept him fresh and snappy, forcing him to keep his wit as sharp as his tongue. He enjoyed the challenge and if he were to be honest with himself as well, he probably wasn’t too upset that it was just the two of them either.

He reached over to the cooler as she teased him over being stuck with her without any protection. As she saw it, he needed to be prepared to get active because she didn’t like to sit idly by when she was at the beach and she wasn’t doing it alone. "A’ight well at least chill before you start draggin’ me all over the sands,” he said, pulling the top off a beer and passing it up to her. “Here’s to us; having a grand ol’ time while Nik skips out for some other friends and Emma goes on some lame date. We the real ones,” he joked as he brought his bottle up to clink with hers.

As he took a sip he nodded to the ocean. "This is my first real time seein’ an ocean. Even when I was travelin’ about, I never really had time to stop by the water’s edge and take it in. It’s a pretty sight; almost makes me wish I knew how to swim,” he remarked idly as he took another sip and then got to his feet. "Alright firecracker, y’all say you don’t sit still, let’s get crackin’. All I want is to be back by the time they light the bonfire. Apparently they got some things with chocolate and marshmallows? Sounds hella tight.”

In the Firelight
Xavier rolled his eyes at her as she commented idly about keeping his pants on, displaying her usual playful refusal to acknowledge and return any compliments that he passed. It was their usual manner of flirting; a bit confrontational and insulting but it seemed to give them both a thrill and he was always amused when he paid her true compliments and she just knocked them away like pesky flies. Moving on, he shared one of his beers with her and cheered the two of them, having been ditched by their other bandmates. Saffron, it seemed, had some idea that they were sleeping together and stated it was ‘obvious’ they were. Xavier’s brow furrowed in confusion. "What? Nah. They’re not sleeping together. I don’t even know if Nik likes women… or men. Or anything. And Emma would need someone much more excitable. I think you’re reading too much into it,” he said, waving the notion away. There was no way that they were together; they were the complete polar opposites.

Understandably, she was surprised that he couldn’t swim. It was a careful line he had to tread constantly; mixing truths with lies about the life he was living. But he couldn’t claim he could swim and then make an utter fool of himself that way; that created even more questions. Plus, it was believable that there were people that hadn’t been near large bodies of water, like him. "I mean I’ve been in baths and shit but never the ocean or any kind of deep pool. Just seem ‘em from afar or heard of ‘em,” he said with a shrug as he got himself to his feet, committing to whatever insanity that she wanted to do. She’d insisted he was coming along and he really didn’t have any reason to say no. All he wanted was to be back for the fire itself, especially so he could try the chocolate-marshmallow creations he’d heard about. Saffron herself was absolutely appalled that he hadn’t had s’mores, as she called them. They were going to fix that and his inability to swim, though she admitted the ocean wasn’t the best place to learn.

No matter what, they were going out to the ocean. She put her beer down for a moment and then stripped out of her cover into probably the slinkiest bikini he had ever seen. "Oh hell nah. You ain’t here tellin’ me to keep myself in my pants and then show all’a that all casual like,” he insisted, drawing a big circle around her entire form with his beer-holding hand. "Plus I ain’t even got a bathing suit.” He gestured down to his white shorts. "I guess shorts as good as anythin’,” he said with a sigh, pulling off his shirt and tossing it into the pile of shit they had before following after her to the promise of ‘excitement’.

She seemed to have an idea already in mind, heading to the closest pier. She walked up to the counter of a stand and handed off some jewel in exchange for two lifejackets and a key. She gave him one and he gave it a curious look at first. It was rubbery and light, filled with some kind of material that felt a bit spongy. As it was a vest, he slung it over his shoulders and onto his body, buckling the thing where it needed to be until it was tight against his form. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing he’d ever worn but he imagined, given the bright colors, that it was some kind of floating thing. He swallowed the rest of his beer with her and tossed it in the same bin before following her to a strange looking water vehicle, to which she climbed on and insisted he was riding bitch. "Ain’t I always with you?” he quipped as he hopped onto the vehicle and sat down in the open spot behind her. The vehicle grumbled to life and then growled as she reversed them out of the ‘parking spot’ and then glided through the water until they reached, what he assumed, was the segment of ocean they could go full blast on. All she told him was to hang on before she ripped them forward, turning the engine on full and rocketing them forwards. His hands had been resting at his sides but, instinctively, they shot forward to wrap around her waist at the sudden lurch. "Goddamn!” he cried out as he nearly slipped right off the seat.

He had never moved so fast in his life. The roar of the water around them, shooting up salty spray in their wake, was stupid levels of fun. Plus, he wasn’t gonna complain about having to be so close to her. He adjusted himself slightly in his seat so he was sitting against her, keeping his arms around her waist as he looked out and around. "I say I can’t swim and you bring me out even further. Is this your attempt to take over the band? I ain’t gonna lie, it’s pretty genius,” he hollered over the roar of the lacski.

In the Firelight
She seemed awfully confident of herself – an endless fact but that was besides the point – over the fact that Nik and Emma were apparently hooking up. Xavier continued to give her a look of disbelief, even as she outlined what was practically a thesis on what a man and woman would act like if they were together. But, as she put it, if he was willing to put money down on it, she’d take him up, if only to take his jewel and probably rub it in his face forever. “A’ight, bet. Nik would let anyone drag him around; hell, I’ve dragged him around. And Emma is just that excitable with anyone. I bet she would do the same thing with you. And if all’a that is true, then people are definitely gonna get the wrong impression about us today,” he gave it right back to her. It wasn’t that her point didn’t have substance, it just didn’t make sense to him, especially since Emma had been the one that had said no fraternizing.

There weren’t a lot of things he was almost assuredly confident in but this was one of them. As he stood and commented on her chosen attire and her worded comments about his feelings over her outfit. She flashed him a look that made him a certain kind of way and asked if he was complaining. “I never said nothin’ about complainin’. I’m just sayin’.” Even he knew it was a fight he couldn’t win; she’d find some way to keep on giving him shit over it, despite her being in the ‘wrong’. And of course, by wrong, it really just meant that she knew exactly what she was doing. Hell, he wasn’t going to complain about having to be close to her but he would happily give her the grief that she loved to give him.

The lack of a bathing suit didn’t seem to affect her at all, as she insisted there were plenty of places to buy dry clothes once they were done. No reason to fight her on that so he followed without much pomp, joining her on the lacski and getting himself just barely set before she launched them into the choppy waters. It was a bit of a bold strategy, to take someone who had no swimming experience out onto open waters but he did have the life vest on. That didn’t keep him from teasing her about her attempts to launch a coup and she insisted that she was just trying to remind him who was in charge and that she had barely scratched the surface. With a hard jerk, she brought the water vehicle about, spiraling them in the water. He held on tight to her, attempting to lean in with the thrust of the lacski so as not to be lifted from his seat. Then off they went, zooming out into the rougher waters where the waves originated from.

They got a good pop and some air from a few waves before she directed them into the growing swell of one of the larger waves. She brought them into the growing current, surging beneath the cacophonous water as they entered the tunnel it created from existing. It was absolutely deafening… and one of the craziest things he had ever seen. He laughed and reached out, his fingers ripping temporary slashes in the water. “Well ain’t that some shit,” he said to himself with a grin. As the wave began to descend on them, Saffron pulled them out from underneath and into calmer waters just beyond the waves.

She turned enough to look at him and asked if he was doing fine. “You kiddin’? This shit’s fun as hell,” he said, the exuberance in his voice obvious. That only grew when she asked if he wanted to give it a try. “Well shit, sure.” She turned off the lacski and leapt into the water so he could step up and sit himself down in the driver’s seat, giving him instructions on how to operate it and what safety measures there were as he clicked everything in place. “Just like an instrument, right?” he said, flashing a grin at her. He turned the lacski on as she climbed aboard, waiting just long enough for her to get her arm around his waist and begin to urge him on before he, too, ripped them forward. Though he lacked any kind of understanding of Earthland’s devices for mobility, it actually felt intuitive to how one would direct themselves in the same situation and within moments, he felt more than comfortable with its control.

And frankly, he was feeling pretty damn cocky too. As he brought them back into the wavy territory, his eyes spotted what looked like floating ramps. He probably wouldn’t have considered it at all if he didn’t spot another lacski zoom over it and get some major height, soaring over the open water before landing on the other side. With an amused chuckle to himself, he jerked the water vehicle over a wave and when they came down, hard turned them in line with the ramp. “Hope y’all are ready,” he called out as he revved them up, getting up to maximum speed just as they came upon the precipice of the ramp.

The change from water to solid surface took him by surprise as the ski attempted to turn sideways. Lucky for both of them, he was quick enough to right their direction and with a roar of the lacrima engine, they took to the sky. He whooped and hollered, even finding the courage to lift one hand up and pump it. But as they came down, he took full control again and down they came, splashing hard enough that water surged in over their legs and waists before the vehicle naturally rose back to the surface. “Well shit, never thought I’d get a chance to fly,” he said with a cackle.

In the Firelight
Leave it to Saffron to not back down from a challenge. A more sane person may have stopped and considered the fact that he was about to shoot them over a ramp with minimal to barely any experience. He was more going off of adrenaline than any actual grips of training. But that wasn’t going to stop him and Saffron did all she could to support his decision. As they both launched themselves over the ramp, they each pumped a fist and hollered, much to the delight of the nearby spectators. And they came down without wiping out, which was always a plus. He remarked about getting the chance to fly and she jumped in, informing him that once he was comfortable swimming, she would take him water skiing and wakeboarding. It was something else entirely to be dragged behind a boat or attached to a sail. "Don’t know what any of those are but works for me!” he said with a laugh. Then she pointed to a more calm spot in the ocean so that they could get him in the water. He nodded and directed them over, slowing them down as they approached before bringing them to a full stop.

He turned the engine off and unhooked himself as he turned slightly to look at her. She told him that the vest would keep him above water so all he had to do was hop in or lower in. She demonstrated by sliding in and waited for him. "Okay well uh… here goes?” he said and hopped in. He’d taken plenty of baths so he knew what it was like to have water around him but never quite like that. Luckily, as she said, the life vest kept him above the surface as his legs and arms paddled out of sync and without much purpose. But he found her hand as she pulled him onto the side of the lacski.

She began his instruction, telling him that the important thing was to keep his limbs moving. It didn’t have to be crazy, very similar to what he had been doing mere moments ago, but it had to be together and in sync. She guided him to kick with one foot and then back with the other and just continually repeating that to keep himself above the surface. And his hands would be best suited to be moving in circles. "Damn that’s a lot goin’ on, ain’t it?” he asked as he started with his legs, paddling them back and forth. Once he felt he had a decent rhythm, he slowly let go of the lacski and bobbed up and down slightly. His hands started to move erratically to try and stabilized but he did his best to just roll them in circles.

"Well… this is… tirin’,” he admitted as he kept up the pace for a bit before he floated slowly over to the lacski again and took hold of it. "Usin’ my muscles in ways I never thought before. Ain’t that somethin’,” he said with a laugh. He would repeat the same thing over a few times; slipping away to practice moving his limbs and then returning to the lacski. After about thirty minutes, he figured they should head in and get some food, since all that swimming was starting to make him hungry. He’d let her take control and bring them back to the dock… only to discover that white shorts when wet, unfortunately, didn’t leave much to the imagination. He earned several whistles and obvious stares from plenty of people around and he hastily made his way to the closest dockside shop that sold clothing.

Once he emerged, he was wearing a pair of black shorts and, just to match, he’d bought a white shirt as well. "Well, I bet we’ll be readin’ ‘bout that in the news tomorrow,” he chuckled as he walked back over to her. "What’s next?”

In the Firelight
Saffron insisted that swimming would become second nature once he’d had time to train his body, though who knew how long that would take. He was a quick learner in most aspects but this was altogether new. The oceans on Rhaegar were few and far, most often near the northern and southern ice caps. And they had never opted to create any kind of large swimming pool, the interest never really being there. So if he wanted to get any kind of time to do it, he’d have to dedicate effort into finding a place he could consistently swim at, especially as she insisted it was great for cardio. "I dunno if it has a name or not; just some basic shit.” Yet another aspect of Earthland was apparently having names for workouts. While he’d heard a few and committed them to memory, he just did the same thing he did before on Rhaegar. He’d have to take some time to look up those workout names as well.

After a bit of time spent continuing to train his body in the art of swimming, they finally headed back to shore, where he and everyone else within sight could take in the sight of his poor choice of wardrobe -- at least when it came to swimming. Though he wasn’t always one for embarrassment, he felt it was a bit much to be pretty much on display, especially with Saffron happily encouraging the remarks and appreciative sounds A quick change into opposing colored clothing and he was feeling much more comfortable, even if he’d provided plenty of meat for any gossip column to talk about. Saffron idly remarked that being a celebrity generally meant causing a scandalous stir and he chuckled. "Great. Good thing to know whatever screw up I put out into the world is gonna be put on blast. Let’s hope I don’t piss off the wrong person on any kind of grand stage or nothin’ then.”

At the question of what to do next, Saffron suggested they take a bit to relax, grab some ice cream and just stroll around to see what was set up. "Sounds good to me,” he said with a shrug. He followed her over to the stall and waited in line until it was their turn to order. She got herself a heaping pile of chocolate on chocolate and he decided to get himself something called Seven whiskey coffee ice cream. It had one hell of a punch for ice cream, even if he didn’t have a wide experience with the frozen treat either. With their sweet treats purchased, they walked along the beach, talking and eating as they observed the celebration.

It wasn’t long before they came across several people carving out sculptures from the sand. Now that was intriguing; he’d grown up fashioning all kinds of things out of the sands and clay of his planet. Saffron excitedly professed her love for time honored art and as they continued to look around, it looked like it was an active competition. Giving him a prod with her elbow, she nodded to the sign up booth and asked if he was up for it. "Shit, girl, you ain’t any idea how up for this I am,” he flashed a cheeky grin at her, agreeing wholeheartedly to the idea.

They tossed away the remnants of their ice creams and got themselves all registered. A short walk later and they were at a plot of beach with their own tools and the opportunity to carve up whatever they want. He rummaged through a few of the tools, giddily taking stock of what they had. On Rhaegar, they’d made use of some of the worn utensils and gardening tools from their families to help with sculpting and it seemed like on Earthland, they weren’t quite dissimilar. She asked what he was thinking and he nodded. "Oh I got somethin’. I’m thinkin’ a big fiery lookin’ flame right there and then something right in the front here. Eye poppin’ shit. Can you work on the background fire? I know exactly what I want up front,” he said, creativity and inspiration flickering brightly in his eyes as he dual wielded two of the instruments. Counting that she agreed, he’d get right to it, taking a few experimental cups of sand to play with to get a feel of it. Once he’d more or less figured that it was about the same as what he was used to, he got to work.

And he worked quickly; piling up sand and molding them to shape. He started on the ground first, making tower-looking growths of sand and differing heights. He used the sculpting tool to carve out the image of arms and hands, waving in the air like one might see in a crowd. Then he began to pile up a lot of sand into one human-sized figure that quickly became more human shaped. Cutting and carving, he swiftly molded out a humanoid with long, raised hair. He continued to detail out each part until he finished, taking a step back and wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. With the backdrop of a raging fire, there stood a sand version of Saffron, her own hair seemingly raised in an open flame, looking as excited as she normally did. She was rocking out on a guitar, with a sea of hands raised in excited recognition for the grainy show she was putting on.

He grinned as he looked at her. "You did say your hair was a flame once, right? Figured that’d make a bad ass picture while rockin’ out.”

In the Firelight
Saffron agreed to make the flames, insisting that she would make some of the best he had ever seen. Xavier shot her a grin before getting to work, expertly crafting the sand with the tools he had been given. He never insisted that she look away or tried to hide what he was making; sculpting it up front and without deception made it all the better and more fun, frankly. As she finished up the back portion, he made the last few touches on his, revealing the spectacle of a rock show with a sand version of Saffron rocking out. She asked him if he was just trying to earn brownie points with her. "Nah, I thought about puttin’ me up there but damned if I didn’t want to listen to you call me an egomaniac for the rest of the night,” he shot back, grinning. "Plus we both know a badass woman rocking out is gonna attract more attention than a man. I mean, look at that hair,” he said, gesturing to her flaming crown of follicles. "Thanks; I’ve had just a little practice,” Xavier admitted as he tapped his fist against hers in respect.

Though they had done a great job, they didn’t end up winning. To be fair, there were a lot of bitching sculptures around, some true masterpieces worth praising. Still, it attracted a lot of attention from the crowds, especially as they realized who the two were that had made it. Fans and media alike came over to talk to them, both on a personal and professional level and they wound up spending some time doing interviews and signing autographs. But soon night was approaching and Saffron made sure to get them out of there so they could get back to their camping spot just in time for the bonfire to light. The blonde bombshell put on her floral cover and a pair of jeans in preparation for the night air, though the raging fire was making it quite warm all around them. Music began to play through several speakers, with the guests dancing and having a good time. They, however, had camped out by the fire to try the s’mores he’d heard so much about.

She gave him instruction on what to do, laying out all of the parts in a row for him to put together. With that, they shoved their marshmallows into the fire, with the blonde keeping her’s away so that it could slowly cook. Xavier followed her example, even as he looked around and saw people pulling out flaming pieces of fluff. Once his had turned brown as well, he pulled it back and stuck it on the cracker, covering it with the chocolate and the top cracker in a little sweet sandwich. He took a bite as she almost lost herself to enjoyment of the treat, claiming it was better than sex. He… well, he had to agree. It was a weird thing to agree to but goddamn if it wasn’t the perfect mixture of flavors. "Damm das gewd,” he said with a mouthful of s’more, his words completely scrambled from trying to talk around the marshmallow.

After he had finished it and took a moment to admire the inventiveness of the treat, she turned to him with a really wicked look, asking if he was ready for something better. He stared as she reached into her bag and pulled out a bunch of over dessert items; peanut butter cups, squeezable syrup, wafers and… bacon. "Naw, no way bacon works on this,” he said in wonder. She offered the full array to him, telling him to play around and see what he liked, claiming that not gaining weight wasn’t a priority when it came to s’mores. "Spoken like a real dietician,” he laughed, going right for the bacon. He refused to believe that it worked with the rest of the food -- so of course he had to try it first.

Once more he slowly cooked his marshmallow until it was perfectly golden. Then he assembled the pieces, making sure to slap the bacon right between the chocolate and melted marshmallow. Then in it went, the former God-King chewing on it. "Oh yoo goa bew kitten mew,” he exclaimed, graham cracker crumbs popping out of his mouth. After a hard swallow: "That’s insane!”

He, of course, then felt compelled to mix and match like a maniac. Frankly, none of it was bad; there were a few combos that didn’t work quite as well but they still tasted good. After consuming way too many than he cared to admit, Xavier leaned back on his hands and looked up at the fire. "Damn, now I’m full as shit. Think they would give me grief if I laid back and slept off this chocolate hangover right here?” he asked her, chuckling at himself.