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

[shadowkin]

[If you want to accost Cid or possibly join him in his absolute shenanigans in the bath (it is not bath etiquette at all but he is only an ignorant™ foreigner™ to this bath house who has never heard of conventional bath house etiquette #trust), he can be found either scuttling around in a towel or relaxing in the baths themselves. I guess you can also notice that he is way too muscular for somebody who plays at being a ~*mere student*~ but I'm not describing whatever the anime did with his abs.

For the hot water bath, he's usually just lounging and playing around with the duckies, popping them and making ridiculous scent combinations. Lilac and chocolate, cypress and blueberry, I don't know, maybe there's paprika in there somewhere. Baby wizards are prone to Flavor Accidents but at the very least there's no wizard sugar floating in here. Probably.]

Haha... This is probably the one that turned out the best? Though, I was hoping to make a fountain or something. I've heard that water can be a good massage.

[The struggle of thinking about jacuzzis or just running water at onsens but you're pretending you don't know what some of those are!!!!! Anyway.

You can also find him dancing on his tippytoes at the edge of the cold water bath, squinting as it suddenly shifts to a bizarre shade of mauve. He sticks a toe in and immediately snatches it back out.]

Uhhhhh. Maybe this should have been a mud bath. At least those are warm. I think they're supposed to be good for pores or something too.

[Alternatively he can be found standing outside the steam room with a sheepish look on his face, like:]

I still have no idea what happened here. Maybe the steam and spirits don't mix and that's why they don't have steam tech.

[dadsandals]

[ Yamato can be caught looking fascinated at his own work over by the soaps. There's a bar in particular that he's holding that seems to change colors every 3-5 seconds. Yes, he did that one. Yes, he's impressed with himself, thank you very much. In fact, he'll toss a bar of it to the nearest person with a grin on his face. ]

Here you go.

[ Have fun!

Yamato can also be found examining the statues and plants for rather obvious reasons. Roomba statues. Nice. But also... ]

Huh. This plant...this is you, isn't it?

[ It sure is a likeliness of whoever he's talking to! ]

[dyingtohealyou]

[Walking in and immediately hearing the screaming steam room? Hello????

He's also not wearing his shades for once, so enjoy the rare view of shiny shiny cyan eyes, the right of which is marked with the crest.]

...Why is there screaming?

[Does he need to be concerned.

Anyway after poking around checking out the magical effects he'll eventually relax into the hot water bath looking honestly relieved. Hard to believe he misses when healing magic came a little too naturally to him, but here we are. That said...]

It smells like someone dumped a bunch of different perfumes in here.

[His nose does not appreciate.]

[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). ]

[shortleash]

( ...?

This was Mika's only reaction upon entering, but, you know what? Weird, but harmless. He was one of the few people in the bath at the time, and, towel at his waist until he slips into the hot baths, he's willing to put up with the weird disco lights, duck bubbles, roomba statues, and occasional, deceptive sounds of shrieking. If anything, it helps him keep his mind off his hunger, which has begun to distract and gnaw.

However, as more people begin to filter in, he grows agitated. He doesn't really want to be around people when he's hungry (does anyone want to be around a buffet when they can't eat?). He debates getting his grooming done with quickly and just getting out fast. If showers existed in this manor, he probably would've been gone already. Alas...

Anyway, while he stews, the stewing becomes quite literal - though it begins slowly, gradually the hot bath begins to boil and bubble, like a jacuzzi, and seems keen to grow only hotter. Also, he hasn't noticed. He's just been sitting here, unhappier than usual, growing red like a lobster.

Maybe passing out will solve his hunger problem. The bath might be suddenly way too hot for you, though. )

[dyingtohealyou]

[Why is it suddenly so hot.

Clambering out and squinting at the water. Contrary to icons, he doesn't have his shades on, so his weirdly bright cyan eyes are fully visible along with the crest on the right one in particular.]

Is someone boiling the bath?!

[dyingtohealyou]

-!

[He's startled by the toss - but he does manage to catch it before it makes contact with his head.]

...Thanks.

Just what have you been up to in here?

[shortleash]

( Distracted from his hungry simmering by his delicious coworker, the bubbles seem to pop and die down... slightly. Not totally. But he's been distracted? )

What are you talking about?

( says the newest oompa-loompa, )

[dyingtohealyou]

The bath's boiling. Look, you're even turning red.

[Buddy?????? You good????????????]

[shortleash]

I'm not.

( Reflexively. But then he actually lifts his arm from the water to look at it...

...

Hm, )

... I'm fine. It's fine.

( The simmering starts to fade... His embarrassment grows, however, )

[dyingtohealyou]

Definitely not you, sure, sure.

[For some reason!!! He doesn't sound convinced.]

Still, casting without realizing it, huh? That's something.

[shortleash]

I didn't even know you could do that.

( He'll have to ask about it... but, ugh, actually going out of his way to talk to people...

The water is probably safe enough to get back into, if a touch warm, at least. He's... calmish. The agitation's still there, but he's aware and controlling his stupid hunger more actively now. For now, anyway. )

Maybe it's because I was that annoyed. Magic responds to emotions, or something.

( "Annoyed" is gonna be his lie for "obscenely hungry." He'd rather seem irritable than starved. )

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[Kiryu doesn't get in the baths. In fact, he stays with a bathrobe on, not showing any consideration about getting in the bath. He's wallflowering, wow. Why is this guy like this.

In addition to that, the steam room keeps getting his attention! He hears that screaming noise every once in a while, and he rushes to open the door and look inside...only to find nothing!]

I heard something...

[Was it a trick of his head, somehow?

That it may be magic-related doesn't cross his mind. He's not used to ignoring that kind of noises, you know!]

Steam room

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

So all those screams are your fault?

[Are you the reason why Kiryu has burst into that steam room like three times today, Cid?]

plants

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[Kiryu leans to take a good look at the plant Yamato is showing him]

Why did you two make plants with my face?

[Is this something he should be flattered about? Is it a sign of camaraderie, perhaps? It's unusual!]

[shadowkin]

Ah, we-ell, I wouldn't say my fault exactly? I was just sort of, you know, playing around a bit with magic somewhere near it and maybe something leaked? I dunno??

[This is half a lie he definitely did something untoward to the steam room on purpose. But near the steam room, in the steam room, skulking about the perimeter of the steam room tapping at the walls -- same difference? Same difference!!

Cid sidles a little further toward the door so the steam can totally mask anything that may give him away! It screeches a little, but--]

Besides, I'm pretty sure moving steam can sound a little like screams anyway. Like, trains and stuff.

[So like, it's the room's fault at the end of the day?]

Steam Room

[themanwhoerasedhisname]

[Kiryu comes outside of the steam room right in that moment, looking pretty baffled! He came running expecting danger, and it was...nothing. What's going on.

Hey, better ask the nearest person here:]

Did you hear something scream?

[He didn't imagine it, right?]

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]

[dyingtohealyou]

Neither did I, but the method of this magic is a mystery to nearly all of us.

[Dipping a toe in, and then more of his foot, before deeming the water a suitable temperature to cautiously dunk the rest of himself into again.]

What's annoying you?

[In the interest of not getting boiled alive.]

[dyingtohealyou]

[Wait, someone was in there?]

Uh- yeah? I thought it was coming from the steam room.

[shortleash]

( Ugh. Mika allows it (as if he could stop it,) looking at Ahito slipping in from the corner of his eye. )

... I can't stand humans, and there's too many of them in this damn manor.

( Good luck fixing that(?) )

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'?

[dyingtohealyou]

[-????]

If you dislike humans, that would make you...?

[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.