pawnstorm | [Open] It's getting hot in here

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[Open] It's getting hot in here

Who: Caren and anyone visiting the hot springs!
When: Post dungeon, could be right after fail/success, could be days after
Where: Hot Springs of course
What: There's a hot springs, so now there's a hot springs episode.
Rating: Could be a p-13 and beyond because some people are only wearing towels in this place.

[Win or fail, everyone needed a reason and a way to relax. With the fall of the towers, there was all sorts of good things to come from it. Some would say it was the birds; and others would say it was the hot springs.

The large, large pools of heated water. Sure, they could be used as a way to get all steamed up (or even steam punk) but after all that hard work, everyone deserves a break!

Bring your swimsuits, your towels, your drinks and snacks-who knows, you should be able to find them in the bazaars, or even on Airy. It's time to soak in the heat!]

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[There's probably some childhood lesson about strangers and candy, but Naruto had never gotten that lecture, and for this reason he accepts the first thing she offers him without even thinking about it. Honestly, he's just a little mesmerized but this is largely because his brain is going: girl??? hot springs??? same water??? girl in towel???

Oh right, there's a snack in his hand.
Actually it looks like there are a lot of them. What's with all these treats?]

Do you... always bring this much?

[She's totally a stranger to trust and all, right? It's not like her food is poison, she's not a bishop. And she didn't make this food anyway.

Tiny white haired, golden eyed thing offering food in the bath, what's weird about that? Nothing at all. Nothing at all~]

No, not always. But I thought that there would be one or two hungry people here.

[A slight shrug.]

And after the dungeons, we need all the energy we can get.

[As the poster child for What Could Possibly Go Wrong, Naruto seems to accept this answer at face value. One hand remains on the towel at his waist, but he crouches down soon afterwards. Settled on the edge of the springs, the water is nearly up to his knees- and restless though he may be in a place that's meant to calm, it actually feels pretty nice.]

Ano- but I thought we got energy back from touching. You know, all that mana stuff.

Ah. That's mana exchange.

[Oh look, an opening. Caren considers him for a few moments, before drifting closer, and...up by his side.]

You've had a demonstration of this?

[Um that's. Close. Okay.

Naruto isn't trying to escape, but it's clear he's ruffled by this shift in their proximity- his shoulders stiffen, hands locked into his lap. He isn't used to being around... well, anyone that was so forward, but this is especially true of interactions with the opposite sex. He'd never been considered a very cool guy back home- all the girls he knew usually spent time talking about the pretty boys. This isn't to say that he thinks he's being flirted with but rather that this entire exchange is rapidly moving into unfamiliar territory.]

Just- just after I got here'ttebayo. When the dragons attacked somebody showed me how it worked.

[He's ruffled, and she's cheerfully ignoring that fact. Caren was forward when she had an idea and wanted what she wanted. Basically she wanted to tease him, just a little. Nothing wrong with having a little fun with him, she thought.

He was pretty, when he had a vulnerable expression like that. Maybe it was something to do with his eyes.]

I assume they showed you what it was like to...clasp against one another, or hold hands, correct? Or were you lucky, and you received a mana kiss?

[SweATING INTENSIFIES????

When Naruto opens his mouth, he's all impulse. He's always worn his heart on his sleeve and he's painfully easy to read. Hiding or disguising his emotions isn't something that comes naturally and as he's gotten older, it isn't a habit he's bothered to learn. For good and for bad, Naruto is just too straightforward. The words come out almost an octave higher than his usual speaking voice and they're strung so closely that they run over each other.]

Some guy held my hands for a little while and then he touched my face that was all!

[It's just because he doesn't want her to get any ideas!! About. Things!!]

[Well that was easy. Her mouth twitches; she's clearly tempted to laugh. But seeing how he just burst out with everything...she has to wonder who was the lucky, lucky guy who did that.

Caren glanced away once, suppressing laughter, before glancing back.]

I see. You...don't want a kiss right now?

[Her voice was wry, eyebrows raising as she offers him.]

Not even from me?

[Naruto has had one kiss in his entire life, and it was with a guy he was literally pushed into during class. There are no words for what's happening in his head at being offered one so freely, let alone one from a pretty girl that he doesn't know at all.

His shocked expression shifts from outright embarrassment to- what looks a little like concern, actually.]

You'd just- You'd offer just like that? What if I'm really bad at it? What if I'm some weird guy and you don't even know?

[That's what we call an accidental hate kiss Naruto. But it counts. It so counts.

But his shifting of expression and his questions-of all things-make her laugh softly.]

I'm not asking you for more. And I'm not asking for a date. And I am certain that we can and will get to know each other with time.

[She offers a shrug. Her eyes go heavy lidded.]

And if you try something that I do not approve of, I will ensure you will regret it. I know this already.

[This is not- how is this happening. Is she sure she isn't asking him on a date because it sounds like that's what it is??? Do people negotiate kissing? She wants to get to know him with time????

Naruto would be panicking, but then she says I will ensure you will regret it and a hundred terrifying memories come flooding right back]

Somehow... I feel like I'm in trouble already'attebayo.

[She smiles sweetly up at him and...well. Naruto may be panicking, but Caren was completely in control. And enjoying herself, far too much. Ah, there's nothing like young man sweat to make a girl feel all lively.]

Then you know that whatever I would do to you would be effective.

[She chuckles; it's a surprisingly sweet sound, from something so dark. But she leans up, and makes to press a light kiss on his cheek.]

There. Was that so difficult?

[It happens so fast, that's the thing. So fast that he doesn't get a chance to get worked up, or run away, or yell. She kisses his cheek and Naruto has years of training with reflexes that should easily maneuver him out of the way- but he doesn't. Instead, his shoulders soften and he goes perfectly, quietly, still.]

That-

[The fingers of one hand lift, touching the place on his cheek where her mouth had been. Just like that it seems all the volume has been blown right out of him.]

Your kiss is, soft.

[He could have moved away, easily. After all, she doesn't have years of training; no reflexes, fox like or no. Maybe he wanted the contact more than he thought.

...boys are so cute.]

Mm. It's not so terrifying, now is it?

[Her gaze softens, and her lips curl into a small smile. If he's interested in more...well. Did she really have to say it?]

I guess not, but.

[The words come slowly because he's actually thinking about them. Naruto has always been more focused on his goals than on pursuits in his personal life- there was always something else that needed to be done, things he couldn't slow down for, and then there'd been the very real possibility of losing his life, the reality of war. Compared to all of those things a kiss isn't frightening in the same way. And yet-

His brows crease, gaze seeking her own even as his hand returns to his side.]

Don't you want to be kissed by someone who really cares about you? Somebody who understands your heart, or is always thinking about your feelings?

[The softness fades from her eyes; for a moment, there's something odd in them, even unreadable. She sighs softly, and her gaze dips towards the springs, and the rippling water.]

There was someone, once but...I had to let him go. We had to let each other go.

[She's honest, perhaps more than she meant to be. Then again, the memories-the dance, the near sight in the illusion-had made that person so near and so far away.]

I hold no illusions. I can and will cause suffering, so I will not attempt to force my hand in such a manner. I have and will again divorce sex and romance.

There's less pain in a kiss then there is in a broken promise.

I don't know what that must be like. [It hurts, hearing something like that. Naruto isn't much for romance, so he knows that there's something to her experience that he won't be able to understand. But the expression that moves over her face, and the way her gaze travels to the water- that he knows. What it means to have a most important person, what it means to have someone like that leave you.]

Growing up I was always alone, and it wasn't until much later that I experienced my first real bonds. Even now I think they saved me.

When someone important to me left, he spent years trying to sever our bond. Looking back on it, sometimes I think my promise to bring him home was the only thing that kept me going.

[Naruto had gone to bed each night staring at that photograph on his dresser and he had dreamt over and over again, about a fight he'd lost in the final valley and about the way it had rained afterwards.

He doesn't think about taking her hand, he just does it- palm warm and uncalloused over her fingers.]

But you know, just like I learned back then- you can't stop someone from loving you. [Maybe she's right and people will always hurt one another. Maybe, like Pain had said so long ago, the suffering is inevitable. But there's more than suffering too. By going through those things, they can understand one another, and walk together into the future.]

People deserve to be seen.
I hope you let somebody see you, too.

It was the right thing to do. It would have happened eventually. But this way, it was his choice. Our choice.

[If she could have clawed out her heart, she would have. But hearing that this boy was always alone, a fool thinking that he could simply bring his friend back...as if he was some sort of pet bird, needing to be caged for its own safety.

His palm feels warm against the softness of her palm. It's warm, and there's something in her chest that twists, and lurches. People kept asking her one thing lately.

'Could I see them again?'

And she had one answer.

'It's possible'.

It wasn't supposed to be possible. Not anymore. She was starting to feel sick and uneasy from the very sense of hope.]

There was no problem in being seen.

[Her voice comes out cold, even harsh. She hadn't realized she had hunched over herself, until she realized how close she was to the water. She straightened, and her eyes continued to stare out at the springs, her expression going blank.]

Accepting what is seen and not trying to change it is far more difficult that you may know.

[Her grip on his hand tightened.]

Particularly when you think that person 'could' be better if they 'just' acted like this, did this. I don't want it.

[Its always been about change, for Naruto. A refusal to accept what he'd been handed, a refusal to accept that suffering was enough, a refusal to sacrifice the people important to him. He'd said as much to Jiraiya when he'd been confronted by his own weakness: of that was what it meant to be smart, to learn to let things go, then Naruto would gladly be a fool for the rest of his life.

Her grip on his hand tightens and Naruto makes no effort to pull away. It was his decision to do this. Like so many other things, he refuses to take it back. If she lets go of him, and when, is her choice. While her gaze stays on the water, his remains on her profile. Maybe the question he asks is the only one that matters.]

Are you happy?

No.

[It's a quick answer, but it's certain. This fool was supposed to be a quick mark, something that was supposed to be there and done. Maybe have a little sputtering, have him fall into the water.

Instead she's holding his hand. She's loosened it so the bones don't grind together, but she's holding it. She doesn't know who's the fool: him or her. Maybe it's the both of them.]

I don't feel anything at all.

Then I know you don't care, [It hardens in his stomach. This expression he's seen before. This resolve. This emptiness. Is it any different from Gaara who had found no use for love- a thing that only caused pain? Is it any different from the curse of the Uchiha clan, who can only become strong by losing the people they cherish most?

Naruto moves because he doesn't care what happens. He recognizes the selfishness of the act and he recognizes that she might forever think the worst of him- but he isn't the kind of man who can do nothing in the face of that kind of emptiness. She's small, and his arms go all the way around her, but the embrace carries the same kind of warmth that's always lived in him.] -But I'm really sorry you were hurt so bad.

[She would not see herself as anyone but herself. She would see Gaara, and make suggestions on how to kill better. She would watch in fascination at the Uchiha clan and their never ending pursuit for the perfect vision.

She's small in his arms. Delicate lines. If he hugged her too tight, he could even leave bruises. Her body shakes a little from mana deprivation and from the simple thumping of her heart. Her skin is warm from the springs.

And yet she stiffens in his arms. Her arms do not move to embrace him, but stay limp against her sides; confusion fills her face. What's happening...?]

Wh...what are you doing?

[She didn't say what she said for sympathy. She was just, as always, telling the truth. Why did he feel the need to embrace her? This is strange, and part of her wants to lash out with violence and spells. It makes no sense at all. None of this does.

It's funny. It's hilarious.]

I'm hugging you.

[The first and only time that Naruto had ever seen his mother, she held him this way. She apologized for his hurts and for how much he had to endure because of a choice that wasn't his own- but more than that, she told him something a secret. Kushina was able to have a happy life because she chose to fill herself with love.

Naruto doesn't have answers for all the problems in the world, and there are still many things he doesn't understand, but he's sure that this kind of loneliness isn't right.

Pain might be inevitable, but there should be more too.
There should be lots, lots more.

His embrace isn't hard. It isn't bruising and it isn't tight- just strong and enduring, like every other promise he's made. This close he thinks he can feel her heartbeat.]

You might not have much use for love, but I've got lots to give. I think it's sad you lost the person you considered important, and I'm angry that you feel nothing when you should be able to be happy.

Maybe you think that's wrong, but I don't care.

[Part of her wants to go duh. Yes, he was hugging her, and she doesn't understand why. Pain is something she knows; suffering is something she enjoys. There is something with it, that catches her interest and fascinates her, like a cat with a laser pointer.

This is just...strange. She can feel her heart beating steadily against his skin and she...

Just feels confused.]

It's not a good thing if I am happy.

[She's more baffled, even as she explains what's perfectly obvious to her. And...]

You're not offering to become my boyfriend or something, are you?

[His arms lower, apparently satisfied, and Naruto eases away enough to give her back her personal space. His smile disappears only because his chin drops when he shakes his head. It isn't self-deprecating, it's just acceptance. It's a weird situation is all. He's never had to explain that he wasn't trying to date somebody before.]

No I'm not trying to be your boyfriend'attebayo. It just seemed like the right thing to do- but I guess that was sort of impulsive huh? People are always telling me I run in too fast.

[Open] It's getting hot in here

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caren pls.... you're killing me....

can't stop won't stop

muffled screaming

CACKLES

every time i think it couldn't possibly get worse

wheezing with laughter over here

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