[Open] It's getting hot in here

[showsnopiety]

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!]

Comments

[hymnals]

Hmm. You might think otherwise, but you're not the expert in what I need.

[ He's not unkind when he speaks; rather, just the opposite. His deep voice is soft, a little amused, but the concern is still obvious. He swishes through the water, coming a bit closer. ]

Go on. Tell me what troubles you.

[showsnopiety]

[No fault of Adrateius, she offers him a flat look, annoyed. Well, a little of it. But she doesn't move away, no matter how displeased she may be. After all, moving away won't do a thing.

Just make him more curious, later.]

I thought I saw a person I left behind, holding me in his arms.

[There's no emotion in her voice. She reports it as if it were nothing in particular.]

But that person, by his own choice, should no longer exist. But the impossible is also possible, here. So.

[She shrugs.]

I torture myself with possibility.

[hymnals]

[ Hmm. Obviously an important memory, albeit vaguely told. Adra skims his fingers over the water as she talks, trying to decide if he should press her for more specific details. It's actually a delicate thing: he doesn't like to pry into someone's personal life, but he also knows that talking about a situation can be a balm to the spirit, whether the other person is aware of it or not. Is Caren that sort of person?

Well, it doesn't hurt to ask. ]

Doesn't sound like a fun time. What was this person like?

[ He adds, more gently. ]

If you care to tell.

[showsnopiety]

[Does she want the spiritual balm? She isn't sure. But she knows...and can establish for herself, that she misses that person terribly. Even if she doesn't regret putting the end to the lies, she still wishes...

every time she plays the piano, she wishes he was there.

She's silent for a good, long while, staring at nothing. But eventually, she speaks.]

Rude. Savage. Lazy. Unbelievably irritating.

Sarcastic and cynical. I wouldn't be surprised if most people, if they ever met him, would want to strangle him.

[hymnals]

[ Adra raises an eyebrow. Caren's usually toneless when she speaks, which makes reading her emotional state a little difficult (though less difficult now that he understands that state as usually 'null and void'). But she had seemed wistful earlier, so he can only assume this litany of insults is somehow affectionate. ]

And how did you feel about him?

[showsnopiety]

[It's an honest list, if nothing else. And, yet...she could think of a certain sonnet that Shakespeare wrote, where he did not idealize his dark mistress.]

I...

[She starts. Pauses. Frowns faintly.]

I would have stayed with him. I would have returned to the void with him, if it were possible.

Which makes no logical sense.

[hymnals]

[ He smiles a little, lopsided, thinking of certain people in his own life. ]

Well, emotions rarely do, Caren.

[showsnopiety]

Which is why they are emotions and not...rationalizations.

[She sighs, long and low.]

I didn't feel that way before I met him. I knew what was to happen. And I do not want this to continue.

It...is distracting.

[hymnals]

[ Abruptly: ]

What was his name?

[showsnopiety]

[Her shoulders twitch.]

Angra Mainyu. But others would call him Avenger.

[hymnals]

[ sadly adra has no context for this and cannot be properly horrified ]

Why?

[showsnopiety]

It's the hero class he was part of. In the war game he was part of, names are more then just the title, something rewarded for valour or birth.

It can be a weakness and with enough knowledge, a way to counter them. A name told can mean slitting ones throat.

[All...technically true.]

[hymnals]

Pardon me for saying so [ not really ], but he doesn't sound like much of a hero.

[ sounds like kind of a dick tbh ]

[showsnopiety]

No, he wasn't. He would be the first to admit that he was terribly and utterly weak.

[She lifts her shoulders in a shrug. Yeah, he was a total dick.]

'Hero' doesn't have the same definition as it does here. If it makes you feel better, perhaps Servant would make more sense? Or soul summon?

[hymnals]

[ Oh.

Hey. ]

You mean ... like Gil? And Saber.

[showsnopiety]

Archer and Saber.

[She smiles slightly.]

I've met three archers, one assassin, and of course saber. There may be more that I'm unaware of.

[hymnals]

[ Archer? Well, Gil does use a bow sometimes.

He frowns in consternation. ]

So the war you spoke of--it was for that artifact, wasn't it?

[showsnopiety]

Yes it was.

[Ooooh this is getting gooooood.]

What have you been told?

[hymnals]

A few things.

[ Had he spoken to Caren even a few weeks ago, his attitude would be entirely negative; angry, even. But Saber's experience with the war had starkly contrasted with Gil's. It almost seemed like she was happy, somehow. ]

What was your role?

[showsnopiety]

[It would have been interesting to see; she might have enjoyed this more. But this was more productive, at least in sharing information.]

An overseer. I was to offer information to those who were taking part in the war-sometimes the masters were completely uneducated on the matter-and offer sanctuary to those who had been defeated and lived, or those who wished to withdraw.

[All of this...technically true. But not the whole truth.]

[hymnals]

[ Hmmm. ]

But you weren't a master yourself?

[showsnopiety]

[In response, she held up her hand]

I didn't have the command seals.

[hymnals]

[ that doesn't mean fuck or all to him ]

The what?

[showsnopiety]

Oh, they wouldn't tell you about that, would they.

[She tapped her hand.]

Three mana infused orders that must be absolutely obeyed, given from master to servant. How they are used depends on master to master, to various context.

But once the seals vanish...the contract ends. If the servant isn't dead, the master may be killed or...a number of unpleasant things.

[hymnals]

[ don't be gross caren ]

All of that is absolutely horrible. Light.