do you believe in magic in a shared bath's heart?

[dadsandals]

The bath at the mansion really is extensive -- probably more extensive than a lot of them have seen, considering there are literally multiple pools of varying temperatures, probably statues and indoor plants or something for atmosphere, steam rooms, complimentary bath things (everything in the manor is kind of complimentary but shshhh) and whatnot.

On this particularly fine and nondescript day, though -- there's a bit of a commotion whenever you wander in butt-naked for your soak or whatever you like to do in here (you can hang from the ceiling like a bat or something we ain't the judge of you); there's two enterprising wizards flitting about poking at things.

The thing with 🪄 Cid Kagenou 🪄 is that he is Very Into Baths, and Very Into Magic, and thus the Bath Magic is one of the few areas where even his li'l old self can shine. Or not shine, given that they've all been here for 2.5 days (extremely rough estimate) and the miracle is nobody has blown up the mansion trying magic yet. But there is definitely magic happening! Since there's already steam and everything.

And then there's 👓 Yamato 👓. Yamato is Here and enabling himself by watching Cid experiment with various things in the area. Initially he probably would've tried to stop him, but seeing what Cid's been doing has made him want to try some magic experimentation of his own. Pairing a teenager who kind of knows what he's doing with a man who has no idea what's going on makes it even more of a miracle that the mansion has not been blown up yet.

But if you look even closer, you'll spot various small differences:

🛁 all of the water has bubbles in it; the hot bath in fact looks like it has small duck-shaped bubbles just sort of trundling along, occasionally a duck pops and releases a puff of scented air (scents may vary at your discretion)

🛁 the cold water bath keeps turning different colors, maybe they should stop experimenting with it before somebody ends up blue for the week

🛁 some of the statues and potted plants have been slightly altered; nothing too outrageous, but at least one or two statues have been turned into roomba replicas and there's a potted plant with leaves that look like people in the manor's faces in miniature

🛁 the steam room is letting out an intermittent screaming noise that sounds very human, but there's no one in it

🛁 some of the bath soaps are extremely bright and keep on changing colors, as if they were colored like a disco ball (rave! in the bathhouse!)

............. Enjoy your bath!

(OOC: This is backdated to before the South mission so South Wizards get in on the fun too!)

Comments

[positivize]

[Without any showers, the baths are more or less the only way to go here, so Maya does enter with a bathrobe and a towel bundled up in her arms ready for a nice soak, but uh. Wow, this is a lot more people than she was expecting to see, even if we put aside all the other weird additions that seem to have made their way to the baths.

As such, she's going to start this bath party out by wallflowering and watching the... interesting sights they've got set up. In particular, she's going to be busying herself by looking over the roomba statues because that's definitely different.]

Wow, whoever made these are pretty good! It'd probably fit in better if it had one of those fountains, though.

[Like the ones with the animals spraying water out of their mouths or whatever.

After puttering around some more, eventually she will relent and try to find a more secluded corner of the hot baths so she can slip into the water as surreptitiously as possible. She's quick about it and she'll keep a towel on for decency's sake, but anyone who catches her at the wrong moment might end up getting a glimpse of the scarring along her right arm and upper torso. Once she's settled in with the bubbles all the way up to her neck though, she'll do her best to relax, but uh--]

The bath itself is pretty nice, but I don't think the screaming is doing anyone any favors...

wallflowering

[revengier]

[ Hello, fellow fully clothed person. Kurapika has a shirt and shorts on himself, and he doesn't seem too keen on joining in on all the fun. ]

You think so? All it does is remind me of that annoying machine of Yamato's that keeps hitting my door.

[positivize]

[Fellow wallflower... honestly they could probably make their own party with blackjack and hookers at this point, there's probably enough of them(?).]

Oh, you mean Musashi-kun? I don't know, I think it's kind of endearing! Having a machine like that at home would do wonders.

[revengier]

[ They can and they should, honestly! Kurapika frowns, however, not fully convinced. ]

I don't know about that. That thing has woken me up in the middle of the night before, and I assume it would do the same at home.

[positivize]

Huh, really? It must really like you then...

[Either that or she just sleeps like a log? Hrm.]

My roommate's always asking me to clean up though, so having something like that running while I'm at work would be really efficient.

[revengier]

Vacuums don't have feelings.

[ Look. He has to say it. ]

Maybe you should ask Yamato for his. If you ask nicely enough, he might hand it over.

[positivize]

Aww, don't say that. You'll make it sad! See?

[She points to the statue of the roomba, where there's some condensation beading on it.]

Oh, he already lent it to me once. I'd feel bad if the battery ran out though, so I haven't asked for it since.

[revengier]

[ MAYA.... He's not playing into your "vacuums can cry" game!! ]

I imagine it doesn't have much time left.

[ Good. ]

I'll be impressed if Yamato can find a way to charge it via magic.

[positivize]

[Wow Kurapika's such a wet blanket. How are they supposed to have their party with blackjack and hookers if he can't play along huh!!!

Teasing aside, she'll take a moment to ponder this.]

I think he'll be able to do it. The magic here is supposed to be fueled by our emotions, after all. It might just be a matter of channeling his appreciation for Musashi-kun into the battery.

[Either that or he'll overcharge it and roomba will become boomba...]

[revengier]

[ Easy, he'll just look the other way and chaperone otherwise!! ]

His love for his vacuum...

[ Heh. That's kind of funny. ]

You know, I'd like to see him try it myself.

[positivize]

[booooo party pooper boooo]

I wouldn't mind watching either. If he can figure it out, maybe he can teach me how to charge the battery in my phone, too.

[Two very different reasons...]

[revengier]

[ He almost immediately perks up at the mention of her phone. They could try that weird rumor again...

Kurapika get better interests challenge... ]

I wonder if your phone would work at all here. If it does, I'd be almost jealous that mine didn't come with me.

[ He took it out of his pocket before he was zapped up here. :( Boo. ]

[positivize]

[KURAPIKA...... help he does need better interests]

I doubt my service provider would reach here, but maybe I could do something about it with magic?

[Time to construct a magic phone network that connects everyone's devices so they can spam stupid texts at each other at ass o'clock in the morning!!!]

roomba statues

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

I'm pretty sure they weren't made on purpose.

[Kiryu is sure it was a happy accident, just like the leaves of the plants. We're all beginner wizards, it wouldn't be surprising if we screw up!]

[positivize]

Oh, you think so?

[That's just going to prompt her to step a little closer to one of them so she can more easily look at it from a different angle.]

It's pretty elaborate if it's a mistake. But if it was an accident, then maybe it ended up like this as a reflection of the caster's heart?

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

Heh. What does it tell you about the caster's heart? Go on, read it like a book.

[Hey, interpreting it like that is far more charitable than just thinking it was someone screwing up. Kiryu is willing to give the benefit of the doubt, now that there's an excuse]

[positivize]

Well...

[Now that he's asked though, the pressure's on(?) so she'll take another moment to examine the statue before responding. Okay wait, she's got it...]

It means that they must really like roombas!

[Look, she never said it had to be a deep reason!!!]

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

...strangest passion I have heard of in a while.

[Heart full of roomba.....]

[positivize]

[sometimes you just got the dokis for a roomba and that's okay!!]

Hahaha! It's just a guess, so it might mean something else... but it isn't that strange to get attached to an object, is it?

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

People get attached to a lot of things. I heard about some that got attached to mold because they had to take care of it.

[Pretty sure I passed articles about that around, yup]

It's the pack mentality.

[positivize]

Huh? Mold!? That's a new one...

[Slime mold tamagotchis are too advanced for her, rip.]

Pack mentality... You mean because people tend to want to get along with others?

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

Exactly. Feeding and talking to it like it was a pet.

[Says Kiryu as if he was above such things. Like two decades and half ago this man gained a chicken and instead of having it for food he took it as a pet and assigned it as a manager in his real estate company]

Exactly. They want to get along with each other, and they want to get along with what's around them. Animals included.

[........]

...and...roombas...

[Okay, no, he's thinking to himself perhaps his pack mentality comment is falling apart because not many want to get along with roombas just because]

[positivize]

[Pet mold... Yeah, that's beyond her. The most she would know about mold is the mildew caught in her AC. (also that chicken manager better have left him a nice nest egg!!!)

Anyways, there's just a small laugh from Maya at the way he trails off with the roomba thing.]

I think people also tend to see themselves reflected in others, even if it's an object. That's why it can look like a dog smiles, or that a cat is frowning... and that makes it easier for us to connect with them.

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[Kiryu gestures towards one of the plants, that undoubtedly will have Maya's face on some of the leaves!]

Connect with these plants.

[It's a bit literal to see yourself reflected on plants, of all things, but yeah, Kiryu understands Maya's point]

1/2

[positivize]

Huh!?

[This sure is putting her on the spot!? She's also not sure how to feel about seeing her own face on these plants and trying to connect with that, considering she just encountered her own shadow a little while ago, but...]