[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

[sediments]

[ S...ure...

That's a new explanation for a missing arm. Bolin's eyebrows draw together as he narrows his eyes, trying to figure out if Sasuke's just playing at the "you're gullible" bit from before or if this is actually serious.

Eventually, all he says is: ]

You must be really bad at expressing your true emotions.

[penitents]

[ The retort is almost funny, given Sasuke's long background of lying not only to himself by the people around him. Given the train of their conversation, though, he isn't surprised Bolin is skeptical. He doesn't owe this kid any explanations about who he is, or where he came from, so it doesn't really matter in the end. Its true that Sasuke isn't well versed in expressing himself, and that he ends up relying heavily on those he cares for to understand what he's trying to articulate, so it doesn't matter that he doesn't understand. ]

You aren't.

[ Sasuke seems pretty confident in this, despite barely knowing Bolin at all... ]

[sediments]

I do my best.

[ His reply is entirely earnest, and he's not embarrassed by Sasuke's comment because he has no reason to be—it's a good thing to be able to convey emotions clearly. (That said, he still struggles to articulate thoughts sometimes, and his words come out jumbled and irregular.

But then at least he's got body language on his side.) ]

[penitents]

Hn.

[ Sasuke has no reason to tease him for it. It's a quality he had never been able to embody himself. Maybe when he had been a small child, when his parents were alive and his brother with him— but as he grew up, he lost the ability to do it behind layers upon layers of quickly and fiercely constructed walls.

He watches Bolin for a few moments longer with an odd sort of intensity before he closes his eyes and leans back again. ]

[sediments]

...

[ Anyway, Bolin moves across the spring then so that he's beside Sasuke instead of across from him, his own back against the stone rim, enjoying the uneven press of the rocks against his back. ]

Did he feel bad, after you two ripped off your arm?

[ Just making conversation. ]

[penitents]

[ He should have expected Bolin wouldn't want to sit in silence. From his energy alone, Sasuke had a feeling he was the kind of guy who liked to socialize and talk. Sasuke couldn't be more opposite to that, but he's accustomed to being around people who run their mouths without reservation. ]

I did the same to him.

[ He isn't sure how he would articulate what happened. His relationship with Naruto was so complex— even in speaking with one another, they can't seem to explain the bond they share with just words. ]

[sediments]

[ It's pretty hot in the hot springs, but the rate at which Bolin can feel sweat gathering at his nape probably doesn't have anything to do with the steam that's soaking the air all round them. His eyes are growing wider, just slightly.

Bolin's met his match. ]

So you guys are matching. [ His voice pitches awkwardly as he cracks the joke, and his laugh doesn't fare much better.

Valiantly smoothing out his features, the earthbender clears his throat. ]

That seems like an unhealthy relationship though, you guys probably should've considered couples' therapy first or something.

[penitents]

[ Sasuke smirks, though he tries valiantly not to let it slip. There's no way Bolin could understand what their relationship was like. Unhealthy or not... things were not simple and easy in the ninja world. Every bond Sasuke had ever had was interlaced with pain, a kind of love that felt like hate that felt like love all over again. ]

You would understand if you had someone who knew you without needing words.

[sediments]

[ That gets Bolin to stop and think, needing a moment to really consider whether or not he has someone like that in his life. The first possibility that comes to mind is Pabu, since Pabu literally can't speak, but somehow he doubts that's what Sasuke is going for.

But then - ]

Why would you try to kill each other?

[ It's unfathomable to Bolin, who wouldn't even kill an enemy if he was put to it. He can't bring himself to make that kind of decision, doesn't have big passions like that, the kind that would drive him to kill someone. ]

[penitents]

[ The humor bleeds out of him in the wake of Bolin's question. Naruto had never wanted to kill him— his response, his promise that they would die together stemmed wholly from Sasuke's bloodthirst and refusal to stray from the path he'd thought was the one he needed to follow. He lost that battle, but even now, his guilt over what he'd done remains. His arm is a physical reminder of that.

In the silence that stretches between them, Sasuke debates how to answer. It's too complicated to explain in a short way. The ninja world, Itachi... He lifts his good hand and pushes it through his hair, sweeping it out of his face again. ]

I made a lot of mistakes when I was young. The path I was walking, I believed I had to kill him.

[ Sasuke pauses again, looking across the hotspring without really seeing it. ]

He led me out of the dark.

[sediments]

[ Somehow, Bolin can believe that Sasuke has made mistakes when he was younger. The older man has that air around him, something like a weight that Bolin can't understand, because he doesn't see things that way. But he does know that the other man is quiet, closed off. He can't see Sasuke actually approaching people to talk over his troubles. Dangerous things can happen if you let thoughts stew.

So the comment, "he led me out of the dark" doesn't mean as much to him because he doesn't understand how someone can be so surrounded by dark.

It's obvious that Sasuke comes from a rapidly different mindset. ]

Sounds like a good friend. Bet you're glad you didn't kill him after all.

[penitents]

Yeah.

[ Now, Sasuke doesn't want to imagine what the world would be like if he'd succeeded. But maybe he really never had a chance. He's spent a lot of time speculating over it, and still has no real answer. It doesn't matter in the end. He lost and that was the end of it. ]

I'm sure you'll meet Naruto at some point. He's difficult to ignore.

[sediments]

[ It's nice to hear that Sasuke at least regrets the decision.

Except. Hold up. ]

Naruto? [ He furrows his brows. ] Your best friend is a teenager?

[ That not weird... ]

[penitents]

[ Sasuke casts him a sidelong at Bolin. ]

He's an adult from the time I come from. However we were pulled here, I'm from his future.

[ A beat. ]

Or he's from my past.

[sediments]

Oh. [ That gets him to sit up, the strange bending of time. ] That happened to me and my friend here too—she's from my future.

[ Only about a month different for him and Korra however. ]

But twenty years? That's gotta be weird.

lmao how does sentence

[penitents]

It is.

[ The slightest frown edges at Sasuke's mouth. It isn't the first time he's thought about it, since he's seen this young Naruto. The difference between what he was, and what he became. Finally, he had achieved his goal, all but uniting the ninja world and becoming Hokage, but the shadows under his eyes tell another story. ]

I'd forgotten what he was like.

[sediments]

[ Bolin can't even imagine something so insane. He barely had enough years on him to even comprehend the scope of time that Sasuke is talking about. Maybe if he imagines meeting Mako as a baby. He'd probably struggle to think of him as Mako, and not just Mako-as-a-baby. They wouldn't be the same person to him. ]

Is it fun? [ Is anything... fun for Sasuke. ] Seeing him as a kid again?

[penitents]

[ Sasuke frowns.

He wouldn't describe it as fun. It's nostalgic, seeing the bright way he interacts with the world, but at the same time it's sobering— it's a living embodiment of all that Naruto once was and isn't anymore. What responsibility has done to the both of them. Sasuke thinks that, in a way, he may have changed for the better, but Naruto...

It's given Sasuke a lot to think about, none of which he is going to discuss with a relative stranger. He looks at Bolin again, almost suddenly, even though the movement isn't abrupt in the slightest. ]

Your name, what is it?

[ They may have done this part before, but if they did Sasuke didn't bother to remember. ]

[sediments]

[ Luckily for Sasuke, they actually haven't introduced themselves to one another. At least, now outside of their shared dream experience, which Bolin only has a vague recollection of.

Regardless, he's not too bothered by the fact that Sasuke doesn't answer his question. The fact that the other man had shared so much already is surprising on its own, and Bolin's not too shocked to discover that he has limits on what he's willing to share while sitting naked in a hot spring with a stranger.

Not exactly the best situation for oversharing. ]

Bolin. What about you?

[penitents]

Uchiha Sasuke.

[ Hotsprings somehow always ended up being a place to talk, but Sasuke hadn't meant to say everything he did to this kid. It couldn't be helped at this point, so Sasuke doesn't bother trying to dwell on it. Obviously something about Bolin had drawn it out of him, and trying to deliberate on it would probably just frustrate him. He closes his eyes again and leans back against the edge of the spring. ]