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

[lighthaus]

[ after walking in and observing the state of the bath, disco lights and all, khun smiles, amused. his hair is up, towel around his waist, earrings still doing some degree of a fashion statement even sans clothes. obligatory he is also part of the !surprise muscular club and seems completely at ease with the various states of undress in the bath. ]

If there was going to be a party, there should have been invitations. [ he doesn't sound actually offended, just poking fun because he can.

once he's setttled, you can catch khun playing with some of the bubbles in the hot water bath while he's soaking, though you might notice there's some alligator bubbles thrown into the mix that seem to be preying on the duck bubbles. one of them is even bipedal and has a spear (wow). ]

State of the bath

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

I guess they were too busy modeling plants with our faces to think of making invitations.

[He's still unsure what to think about seeing plants with his face. He's not upset about it, just...very puzzled!]

Not bad, though. This seems fun.

[Says Kiryu, who shows no sign of wanting to get into a bath. He has a bathrobe, yup]

[lighthaus]

That might be it, but it's important not to forget the basics.

[ tilting his head at Kiryu's attire. ]

Not joining us?

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

I...bathed already.

[Kiryu has never been able to lie to save his own life. Takes two seconds to figure out when he lies, and this is no different. Kiryu, your hair isn't even damp]

[lighthaus]

[ khuns pretty good at reading people too, so f. ]

Your hair's not wet. Don't tell me you're shy.

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

Hardly anyone has called me shy.

[Oh, he totally has been called shy before, as a way of messing with him. Kiryu looks around, as if he's trying to find out a good excuse he can use, but it's hard when you didn't really prepare for this. He was just going to hang out and wallflower all day in the vicinity, he seriously didn't think he was going to be asked why he wasn't getting into the baths]

[lighthaus]

But I'm hardly anyone.

[ he doesn't press again, but he also doesn't give kiryu an easy out—that's on him to find his own. he tilts his head, waiting for the answer or the incredibly smooth topic change to follow. ]

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[Kiryu shakes his head...but decides to answer]

I have a tattoo on my back. I'm not supposed to go into bathhouses.

[Most Japanese people would understand right away the implications of what kind of line of work Kiryu has been at any point of his life -- not a whole lot of people have tattoos on their back the way yakuza do, after all.

Takes two seconds for Kiryu to remember that no, he's not in Japan, nor even in his world]

That doesn't mean anything to you, does it?

[lighthaus]

Not a single thing. Now, if you were going to drip ink all into the bath I'd have to eject you, but assuming you're not going to do that—join me.

[ this is a bit forceful, kiryu has been socially conscripted to join now.

chop-chop! ]

hot water bath

[1145pm]

[ Khun may not realize this, but his bathmate is extremely invested in the drama going on between the alligators and the ducks. He watches intently, chin pinched between his thumb and forefinger. ]

Hmm. [ He watches one alligator devour a duck. RIP. ] What if we add in a third party? One that's a threat to the alligators but also prey to the ducks?

[lighthaus]

[ he doesn't really realize, because he's also too amused by his own creations. a glance over when tatara speaks. ]

A third party...what do you have in mind? There's not many things that would fit that bill.

[1145pm]

Hmm...

[ Another little hum. Did he think that far? Not really. Give him a sec to think over his options...

...Except he only really comes up with one option. He looks at Khun with a stupid smile on his face. ]

A human?

[ these ducks are now man-eating— ]

[lighthaus]

[ looks back

sighs a bit tiredly. ]

We'd have to give the ducks weapons if they're going to eat people.

[ he's considering this now because for all i know there are large duck people in tower of god which is likely because there's huge parrots??? ]

[1145pm]

[ there should be—

Tatara nods sagely (lol), and he considers his options. ]

Like, guns? Or would swords be easier to make?

[ Now he looks pensive again, because he wants to see where this goes. ]

[lighthaus]

Swords. The crocodile has an advantage over anyone with guns, so that would defeat the point.

[ he shifts in the bath and then with a decisive impero, bubble swords pop into existence, centered in the middle of the bath "battlefield". the ducks and crocs both immediately beeline (float) to where the swords are in all their prismatic bubbly glory.

looks like he's leaving the creation of human bubbles to tatara. ]

Finding a weapon is part of the game too.

[1145pm]

Whoa...

[ It doesn't matter how many times he sees it, magic is still so impressive. He looks at the bubble swords, awed by the detail (even if there's a lack thereof), and watches as the crocs and ducks spring into action.

It's like a TV show where he can request what happens...

He looks up at Khun again, eyes wide and curious, because— ]

Where are the humans?

[ —he can't actually use magic. ]

what if we had TWO threads about baths

[shadowkin]

Ah. This is the first time I've seen somebody wear earrings into the bath.

[Usually, don't they tell you to take all jewelry off?? Well, it's Khun's loss if his earrings go down the drain, considering the increasing chaos going on here; Cid's not too fussed about it, but he does notice that right off.

They sure have some idiosyncratic bathers here. He's spent so long with prim and proper bathers back home that it's almost kind of refreshing; that and Everything Else Happening. He shrugs and comes over to inspect the hot water bath too.]

This was just experimentation, anyway. There's no point inviting people when you're just messing around. [they were totally messing around; he blinks at the sudden reptilian invasion] ... Why are there dinosaurs?

TWO!!!

[lighthaus]

They're made of suspendium, they're not going anywhere.

[ what with their name and all. presumably. ]

Then I look forward to an actual invitation in the coming weeks. And prey always attracts predators, don't they? I wouldn't call them dinosaurs though, I'm not sure he's worthy of that upgrade.

[ the bipedal gator seems to take offense at that and runs through a duck with its spear with gusto. ]

State of the bath

[mirristry]

[WHY IS EVERYONE HERE SO MUSCULAR Phil is dying for multiple reasons...

Meanwhile, he is very much bathrobe-clad and not looking like he's about to take it off, though he will sit down on the hot water side and let his legs dangle in once he's sure that the water isn't going to dissolve his legs or something else equally horrible.]

If there had been invitations, I would have known to come later...

[He wasn't exactly expecting a crowd while trying to just take a nice, relaxing bath!]

[lighthaus]

[ khun turns to phil with a friendly smile. ]

You're not that shy, are you? [ he doesn't enter the bath just yet because he has to hang up his towel on one of the hooks. yes he has no qualms about having this conversation while he finishes undressing to become fully naked. ]

[mirristry]

[HELP HIM

He spins to look away so quickly that he almost loses his balance but manages to catch himself before he ends up falling into the water. Nice save, at least?]

N-no, it's just... I don't really know anyone here, so...

[... that would be a "yes, he's that shy."]

[lighthaus]

My name's Khun. And now that we're acquainted, join me. [ he totally caught that, an amused huff at phil's flailing.

time to enter the water, completely at ease as he does so, even as he stares at Phil the entire time. that was not an ask~. ]

[mirristry]

... Phillip.

[He's pretty much backed himself into a corner here now, hasn't he? Phil is starting to realize the error of his ways, namely that there's no getting out of this one.]

Um, if you wouldn't mind looking away for a moment...

[Just long enough for him to get the bathrobe off and slide into the water, which he is most definitely not about to do with Khun staring at him like that.]

[lighthaus]

[ hand on his cheek. ]

You realize you're almost double my age, right? If you're that shy, get creative.

[ Phil will quickly realize that khun is not someone who takes orders well, or at all really. ]

[mirristry]

[Phil.EXE has stopped responding (probably for the exact reason that he is in fact almost double Khun's age)]

R-right. Of course.

[Get creative. Okay. He can do this.

Stepping into the water, he starts to lower himself down into it and wriggle the bathrobe up and off over his head as he does so. It probably looks extremely stupid and the hem of the bathrobe gets more than a bit soaked in the process, but he does in fact succeed in getting into the water without flashing Khun or anyone else in the vicinity, so... success?

And then he promptly sinks down into it up to his chin and draws his knees up to his chest to make extra sure that no one can see anything at all.]