May I have your attention, please?

[bossyboiler]

Who: Kate Cordello and YOU!
When: July 5th
Where: The Beach!
Summary: One of Kate's departments is Staff Development. It's not her idea. She has no authority. Mandatory fun, however, is right up her alley.
Warnings: Seagulls will be hit (animal abuse).

Guardian of the sand, sand guardian.

When the idea had come down from the top in Staff Development, Kate had thought it a very good idea. It may be mandatory but that hadn't meant that they all couldn't use a day at the beach. It would be good for them to all get some fresh air, enjoy the ocean and have fun. What would they rather be doing? Working in the office under fluorescent lighting? Perish the thought!

Kate is all aboard with this idea. She's dressed for the occasion too with wearing a yellow dress and matching flip=flops over a swimsuit. Her hair is pulled back and her smile is bright.

She will absolutely be one of the ones who notates names on arrival.

To those she hasn't met yet, Kate walks up to them. "Hi. My name's Kate. We haven't met yet."

To those she knows, she walks up to them with a small smile on her face. "Hi. I'm glad you could make it." As if they had a choice!

Food! Glorious food!

Kate is not manning the grill. They won't let her near the fryer or the grill. Apparently, more than a few people remember her flinging burning marshmallows at last year's beach party.

Just because she can't play with fire or deep fry everything doesn't mean she won't help out with the food in other ways. Kate has baked up a storm. She's brought lemon bars, brownies and blondies. There is a pointed lack of cupcakes. (She thought they would melt in the sun.)

She enjoys food here and there but is mostly there to make sure everyone is having a good time and gets enough to eat.

"That's a lot of food." Kate says to someone who she hopes has a stomach bigger than their eyes.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

The seagulls are a problem! They little sea rats are bold. While they mostly hover far enough away to just be menacing, every once and a while, a solitary one makes a swipe at the food. Most of the time they are shooed away with a waving of hands and a loud voice but not always.

Sometimes it takes a swipe with a well-time jump and clipboard. It's like live-action whack-a-mole but with seagulls. It feels good to make contact with the birds. How dare they go for the food. How dare they come at all!

The more the day goes on the more audacious some of the seagulls get. Kate is trying to enjoy lemonade in piece but one of the damn birds believes it food for them. It smells like food so it must be food.

"Go away!" Kate shouts! It does not go away. Instead, it squawks and flies in closer. Kate has no choice but to whack it with her clipboard. She hits it hard. The clipboard cracks, it being made of hard cardboard. The bird goes sailing and lands in the sand a several feet away, dazed but otherwise unharmed.

"And there's more where that came from!"

Misc.

(( OOC: If there's something else that you'd like to do with Kate. You can find me on plurk at kindaklutzy and on Discord at Charly | Kate Cordello#5592. Did they forget sunblock? Do they want to drown her in the ocean for being such a bossy boiler about things? Please let me know. I will write something for you! ))

Comments

[abrightboy]

Malcolm arrives in swim trunks and a t-shirt, a towel draped over one arm. He glances around. Neal isn't here yet; he's the one bringing food Malcolm can eat. He does spot Kate, yellow like the sun, walking up to him.

Glad you could make it.

"We're doing jokes now. That's good. I'm going to take that to mean there are no hard feelings."

[bossyboiler]

"No, Malcolm. There are no hard feelings though I'm not sure what you mean about me doing jokes. I'm not joking. I am glad you could make it."

[abrightboy]

Malcolm narrows his eyes slightly.

“…You know they made us come here, right?”

[bossyboiler]

"They also make you come to the office everyday, what's the difference?" She can tell him the difference if he'd like.

[abrightboy]

“I don’t get sand in my shorts at the office?” Malcolm suggests. “And rarely is anyone ‘glad to see me’ there.”

[bossyboiler]

"So what you're saying is that there's an even split on whether or not a day at the beach is better than a day at the office."

[abrightboy]

"How is that an 'even' split? The office is way better," Malcolm informs her, looking around again.

Food!

[whisperedone]

His stomach is at least more functional than his eyes, as it's his nose that's led him to the table more than the clouded white of his blinded eyes.

He's paused near where he thinks the table starts based on the shifting ground of feet passing near, but sand was unreliable to base hearing on. He's dressed in the plain black swim shorts he'd been directed to get and a thin, cream, over shirt that he's left open for the heat and the press of bandage pads still over his right side.

"Yes, and it all looks delicious." He responds with a smile, his joke a poor one, but not one he intended to pass up. "The smells here all run together...but I can tell meat and...baked goods?"

[bossyboiler]

"Oh, yeah. I made lemon bars, blondies and brownies for the event. I thought cupcakes would get a little too melty in the sun." Plus, the bar cookies had been easier to transport.

"I don't believe we've met before. My name is Kate." She doesn't offer a hand to shake because his hands are so very full with the plate.

[whisperedone]

He nods. That all sounds reasonable to him...at least the cupcakes. He doesn't know what a 'blondie' is, but the rest sounds good.

"You made them all? It smells delicious." He offers a smile vaguely in her direction, though his gaze falls a bit past her. "Ah...A pleasure, Kate. I don't believe we have, no. I am Garner. I'm sorry if I've passed you by without saying hello before, I find I often miss new faces."

He smiles a little wider, at least amusing himself with his poor blind joke.

[bossyboiler]

"Aren't you sweet? I just made some of the deserts."

It hits her all too late. He's blind! She realizes but doesn't say it. She doesn't want to be even more rude than she already has been.

"You're right. We haven't met yet. Shame on me for not saying hello. I work mostly in Admin, I don't think I've seen your face there."

Awkward.

[whisperedone]

"Ah, and there's the reason. I largely work investigations and security. Admin typically requires both a little better people skills and a little more ability to use your eyes. Two things it seems you're well qualified for."

He could investigate an area with the rest of his senses. Sadly, paperwork made little in the way of useable sound or smell.

"Luckily, we are meeting now and I can make a better effort of saying hello."

[bossyboiler]

"You're sweet to say but there's also a reason I'm not in investigations. I tend to give off the wrong vibe in interviewing people." She shrugs her shoulders as though to say that it can't be helped. She is who she is. And then she immediately feels like an ass again because he can't see her gestures. "In Wolf Pen some people thought I was a revenuer which I found out means they thought I was a federal agent. Crazy, isn't it?"

She smiles at him. Hopefully, it sounds like she's smiling to him. "It is good that we're meeting now. It's a lovely day. Can you believe some people are upset about having to be here?"

Food

[worthallthis]

"Well, I know it's good," Winter comments. Considering his plate is like a third full of brownies, this is meant to be a compliment. Also kind of a joke.

For the record, he is not dressed for the beach. He looks like normal, in two layers of shirt and a (light) jacket, heavy jeans, and his constant combat boots.

[bossyboiler]

"I know you know it's good. I think you licked the bowl clean." Kate says with a little laugh. She had made the brownies and other cookies in their shared apartment. Winter had been given the bowl of leftover batter to do with as he had pleased.

In a sea of swimsuits and shorts, Winter does look out of place. Who is she to judge? She's just glad he made it.

[worthallthis]

"I used my finger and a spatula," Winter says with a little sniff. He did not use his tongue directly on the bowl. That's not only gross it's very awkward and results in chocolate on one's nose and in one's hair.

He may have done so in the past, in order to discover this.

"But they are good," he adds, not actually a joke. "Thank you for making them."

[bossyboiler]

"Yes, yes. You used your finger and spatula to make sure that there was absolutely no batter left behind. It made my cleanup even easier." She gently teases.

"Thank you and you're welcome. I made extra just for you. I know how you like your sweets."

[worthallthis]

"I live to serve," he says, voice dead-dry.

But he softens after a beat. "I do. The brownies are my favorite."

[bossyboiler]

"Is that a joke, Winter?" She's so proud of him! He's come so far.

"And I'll bake them for you anytime, you have but to ask." It's just as easy to bake brownies for desert than anything else. "Do you think you'll participate in the sandcastle building?"

[failedpromise]

Cortana is staring blankly out at the ocean when the sound of a voice startles her and she whips around, shock and ...fear? It's gone within a fraction of a moment, but there's terror in her expression, replaced by even more intense relief as a smile spreads across her face at the sight of a friend.

"Well attendance is mandatory." Her tone is playful. Requiring people to go to a party isn't exactly some terrible crime, even if she'd like to be anywhere else at the moment.

[bossyboiler]

"It is. And if I had a nickel for every time someone complained I'd have two nickels which isn't a lot but it's weird that a beach day is something people are choosing to complain about." Kate smiles warmly. "Are you enjoying yourself so far?"

[failedpromise]

"Well, I can't eat, and I don't feel well so I'm not really into the idea of building sand sculptures ...I'm starting to get why AI are rarely invited to parties."

So no, not really, though she also doesn't sound too put out about it.

The real problem-that the sight of the ocean brings up terrible memories-goes unsaid.

[bossyboiler]

Kate is sympathetic to Cortana's plight. "Do you want to leave? You've been marked down as being here. I won't tell anyone that you skipped out early."

[failedpromise]

She blinks and looks thoughtful, considering it. Should she just leave? She can't go back to work and she's not really feeling up to wandering around town ...all her friends are going to be here...

"It's not as if..." Her gaze, having started to wander once she became lost in thought, comes to rest on the ocean again and she trails off, silent.

[bossyboiler]

"As if what, Cortana?"