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

Now in the right place

[impacter]

[Have you ever seen a man just enter a public bath still fully clothed? Well here comes Solomon, barefoot but otherwise still thoroughly covered from neck to wrist to ankle. There's a slightly concerned look around the room, brow furrowed, until another scream erupts from the open steam room.

Ah.

Instantly, any tension is gone.]

A charm of sorts? Well, I suppose it could be worse.

[Solomon will be mostly wallflowering, flitting about the various chaotic elements without ever entering the water. What a party pooper! The soaps and plants and weird roomba statues are all getting heavily inspected, though, like someone observing a middle school art project and trying to decide whether to be impressed or amused or both.]

[serenesinker]

[Here comes the boy old man! Just as he's about to disrobe and hop into the warm bath, Yodarha notices a fully clothed man out of the corner of his eye. He approaches, sandals flapping repeatedly against the tile as he practically sprints over.]

Planning and takin' a bath with us, or just 'admiring the scenery'?

[impacter]

Mm?

[Oh, the Small One. Definitely not human so congratulations, Yodarha, you instantly have his attention.]

Ah, the charms set up around here are taking up far more of my attention, to be honest. The progress is adorable.

I hope I'm not imposing on the group, though.

[serenesinker]

Nah, you're not imposin' on anyone I think!

[As long as he isn't actually being a perv. Not entirely out of the question yet, but it's leaning towards no at least.

Yodarha nods approvingly at the decorations.]

Although some of them feel like practical jokes, it's pretty impressive how far they've gotten! Especially takin' into account that most of us are starting from scratch.

[impacter]

[He's not having much trouble maintaining eye contact, so Yodarha can take that as he likes.]

Well, having fun is a great way to learn. I think that shows some promise. And we all get to enjoy ourselves a little in the meantime.

[His hands fold neatly against his abdomen as he chuckles.]

I don't think the two of us have met yet, have we?

[serenesinker]

[Yodarha's brows furrow a bit at the question.]

Don't think so, no! Name's Yodarha, pleasure to meetcha!

[A small hand is held as high as possible to shake.]

[impacter]

[He easily extends his own hand to take Yodarha's, a firm handshake despite the size difference.]

Solomon. Likewise.

You're an interesting sort, Yodarha. How are you liking our surroundings? Any plans to participate in this contained chaos we have going here?

[serenesinker]

It's a lot to take in, and I still wanna get home sooner rather than later... but this world needs our help, so help out I shall!

[Thankfully Yodarha's grip is tight enough to keep him rooted on the ground despite his size. All that sword training has some use at least.]

The academy is way snazzier than I'm used to, but it's nice too! It's sometimes a bit tough to get to sleep at night though - there's a lot of nocturnal folk prowlin' around, hyuk-hyuk!

[impacter]

Our wizards do have a lot of energy for the evening air, don't they? [Said like he isn't one of them, but shhh.]

You're taking this in good stride, though. I think a lot of us could benefit for your attitude.

plants

[1145pm]

[ Are you inspecting the plants, old man?

While Solomon's busy doing that, Tatara will sneak up beside him and quietly stick his face beside his, not looking at the plant but peering up at him instead.

He's grinning. There's also a mark on his left shoulderblade. ]

Helloooooo. I never got your name.

[impacter]

[He's carefully examining a very pointy leaf that looks like Urianger, moving it between his fingertips like the delicate turning of an old book. But weight drops against his shoulder, earning the slightest start from the silver-haired man as he turns quietly in surprise--

Oh good! Here he was wondering what had happened to poor Tatara. Maybe his cooking had been so moving he'd needed some time alone.]

Really? I could have sworn I said something... Though, you did doze off rather quickly.

[His hand abandons the plant, pressing a finger to his own lips mischeviously.] Did our Sage come to enjoy the little spectacle?

[1145pm]

[ Was that dozing off?? Tatara gives a strained little laugh at that—how does he tell him that it was the omurice that knocked him out? He even watched him make it??

When Solomon abandons the plant, Tatara rights himself and plants his hands on his hips. ]

At first. But now I'm here to ask your name.

[ Give it to him!!! ]

[impacter]

Hahah... well, if you've forgotten, I guess there's no helping it. [He meets that determined little stance with an inquisitive and humored glint in his eyes.] It's Solomon.

[That gaze flickers to the side, towards the marked shoulder, then back to Tatara. Solomon's hand lifts to rest in thought against his chin, his wizard seal prominent against his knuckles.]

Is that symbol something this world gave to you, too? It looks quite different.

[1145pm]

[ Speaking of marks—so that's where Solomon's is. Interesting. Tatara's gaze flickers to it, then back up to his wizard's face.

He grins when he gets his name, and he's about to say something else, but Solomon's question distracts him. Later. ]

Oh, this? [ He awkwardly wraps his arm around himself to point at his back. ] No. My King gave that to me.

[ His expression twists a little curiously, and he tries to peer over his shoulder. Not easy without a mirror. ]

I'm still surprised it's still there.

[impacter]

So he gave a tag to his hound, is that it?

[That's slightly grim, depending on the circumstance... but that's not a conversation they need to have in such a public space.]

You'll have to tell me more about that King of yours sometime.

[1145pm]

He gave it to everyone.

[ He says this quietly, like in a reminiscing way. Who is everyone?

He won't elaborate. He only smiles, and nods.

After a moment of silence, he beams up at Solomon again. ]

Enjoying the party?

[ Yes! It is a party. ]

[impacter]

Everyone?

[So not a mark for a special few, but... hm.

Tatara skirts around the topic, though, prompting Solomon to do the same. He can dig into that later, perhaps. Not here.]

Its been a while since I've had a celebration in a group bath. I feel like I might have missed the dress code.

[Not that he seems too pressed to change that right now.]

So? What do you think of what your wizards are accomplishing?

Plants

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

Are there plants looking like all of us or was I just unlucky enough to have plants made after my face for some reason?

[Or maybe the plants just...take the form of who's looking at it! Truthfully Kiryu didn't look at those leaves too closely, when he saw that he recoiled]

[impacter]

[He watches Kiryu recoil like a startled cat, still maintaining his own calm inspection of the Kiryu Doppelganger Leaf between his fingers.]

Fascinating, right?

I don't know if I would pin it as natural. Given everything else going on in here, my guess is someone is testing out their new abilities in some harmless ways.

[He holds the leaf up to "look" in Kiryu's direction.]

Illusion magic, possibly, or transfiguration. No worries for your karma for now.

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

They could have at least made the entire plant be like that instead of just each leaf!

[A shrubbery cut in the face of a person's head is artistic! A leaf having that shape is...odd...]

[impacter]

Ahaha... you really aren't a fan of this, huh? [Poor guy. The absurd parts of magic really takes some getting used to.]

Maybe their power over the illusion wasn't strong enough for the entire plant. It's much easier to change many small things than a single large one, especially if you're not used to it.

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[Kiryu is such a fish out of water in this setting, it's incredible]

Should we be glad this was the extent of this nonsense?

[He has a feeling it could all have been much worse. Magic, it can really screw things up if you're not careful, he's sure...]

[impacter]

My, are you worried you're stuck with a bunch of troublemakers, dear Kiryu?

[teehee]

That said, yes, I think this is all relatively simple and harmless in concept. Unless someone has put something poisonous in the water, we should count our blessings.

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

They sure made the steam room sound like something not simple and harmless is happening in there.

[Those rascals! Kiryu is ping-pong-in between that having been an accident and having been done on purpose]

[impacter]

True, but sounds are just sounds. A distraction, and maybe a distressing element, but there's nothing all that harmful about it.

[Maybe to someone's ears if they stayed in there too long? Earplugs are an easy fix for that, though.]

Unless... you were wanting to use the steam room?