Waking the Dead 2.0 || May 18, 2063 || The Mandatory Hot Springs Episode

[kawaakari]

[The skies are clear, the air is cool, and overall? Conditions are perfect for spending the entire afternoon and maybe even the entire night at the hot springs within Seigi. It's open to Zangyaku operatives and their families, along with any of their guests.

Oh, they're also communal. Surely no one minds? It's just skin, after all.

You're allowed to smoke, drink and eat while you're chilling out in the pools. You can also play cards, have a round (or several) of ping pong, flop around... anything goes, as long as you don't kill anybody!]



OOC Notes:
+ Make your own threads, plot out your own shenanigans and whatever else. Just remember: War Hounds and the rest were probably invited there after lunch, and are more than welcome to spend the rest of the day there. Y'all might want to specify the time. :3
+ NPCs are available on call beyond the threads I set up in here (if I end up setting some up, anyway)! Lemme know if you have questions.

Comments

[ktotheatothez]

True.

[Why was it easier to talk to her than it was to talk to Hikaru, anyway?]

I dunno. I guess it's just me. I tend to want to be able to protect the people I love and maybe sometimes I take it all too far. I want to get stronger... That desire got me in trouble once...

[sadame]

[Because she's (outwardly) nicer. And she totally knows what you're thinking, but... she'll call you out on it later.]

That sort of thing takes practice. At least you're certain that you're doing what you can because you really care.

[kawaakari]

It seems as though there will be many things that you will miss when you go.

[He had started waxing nostalgic, after all, during one of their previous sessions. It was nothing outside of what Kasumi was expecting from him, though.]

[atlas_shrugged]

Aside from Great Koi, Ma'am? [ He glances sideways at her ] I'll miss these conversations.

[kawaakari]

It's almost like you are saying goodbye to me already.

[Lifting an eyebrow.]

We still have one more night.

[ktotheatothez]

[Kaz kind of... Plops down onto the grass after that. Kind of drained from talking and feelsing at Setsuna.]

Ulf...

[He heaves a sigh and just lies there, watching the sky.]

[atlas_shrugged]

And I'm both happy and sad about it. [ He knows he's going to miss talking to her. ] Would you be up for a change of scenery tomorrow night? Sit at the Great Koi's pond?

[sadame]

[Peering down at him, tilting her head.]

You should just talk to him more.

[Him being her brother. The Wings were, oddly enough, a trickier issue at the moment.]

[kawaakari]

Very well. As things stand, it would be good for us to keep him company.

[atlas_shrugged]

Nico Raio said that he rarely ever gets guests, Ma'am. [ He thinks of the Great Koi and how happy he seemed with Taning's pinwheel boat ] But are there any other reasons why keeping him company would be good? [ He's not quite sure about her last remark. ]

[kawaakari]

Few are actually aware of his existence in Seigi. He does this on purpose, of course, but no creature should be left alone for too long.

[atlas_shrugged]

Sounds like a lot of somebodies I know, Ma'am. [ Brigade shakes his head, laughing at himself, and thinking of Hikaru and some of the others he's read on. ] Is it a good thing I'm keeping you company too, then? Or am I wrong to think you're a woman who keeps nearly everyone at arms-length?

[kawaakari]

You are not wrong in that. We Whisperers work best at an optimum distance.

[Which occasionally means 'close', but could also mean 'nowhere at all'.]

[ktotheatothez]

[Kaz peers up at the fox before idly scratching at her ears. It's a small thank you, really.]

Maybe I should...

[sadame]

[Enjoying that sort of attention very much, mmm.]

He needs more people like you in his life.

[ktotheatothez]

More people... like me?

[He doesn't know what to make of that.]

[sadame]

[She only chuckles, licks his face once, and hops off.]

I'll see you later, Kaz.

[ktotheatothez]

[He sits up then and watches her trot off. He still had a curious look on his face, but stands and wanders off. Who knows, he might actually go looking for Hikaru and talk to him for a while.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ The words just come out, before he can steel himself from saying them ] Don't keep me at a distance? [ It's out already anyway ] Don't make our talks Whisperer work?

[kawaakari]

[Ah. And here it is.]

My life is defined by my work, Brigade. That does not mean, though, that I cannot enjoy certain aspects of it.

[atlas_shrugged]

This from the woman who told me she prefers not to spoil her drinks with talk of work? [ He smiles at her, remembering a previous night with her ] I'd feel terrible then, if I were just more Whisperer work spoiling your drink. [ He means it and his expression shows how he really feels, even though his words try to place it wittily. Please don't let me be just work. ]

[kawaakari]

If you had been, then we would not have had nearly as many drinks together as we did.

[Her tone remains neutral, just warm enough. But that is all.]

We are brother and sister in the Vigil now. Family must get along.

[So there is the line.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ It's hard to hear. But Brig tries his best not to show it, Autonomic Control kicking in reflexively as a response to injury. He wants to say something, anything, but can't find any words. So he picks up the bottle of sake he's brought and fills her cup again. Fills his own and takes a sip. ]

[kawaakari]

[And Kasumi, in the meantime, appears to be perfectly content with the silence. She sips from her own cup, leans back, and enjoys the water.]

[bladeweaver]

[Good job, Brig.

But it's time to end this. He's getting tired, and if this doesn't work, he's going to lose. One way or another, it's time.

He's seen the pattern: Brig is pushing him side to side such that he doesn't even need to work. Clever use of spin, really. But spin works both ways.

As Brig hit a shot to the left whose spin would mean that it returns to his central position when hit back, Taning calculated a certain spin and angle that he needed to hit the ball at, and...

He sliced the ball in the same direction it was already spinning, making the ball hit, with extreme backspin, the table at an almost-parallel. He saw Brig expecting it to bound back to his position.

Now we see if it works...

The ball landed, bounced backward for a split-second, then, pulled by the extreme spin, bounced backward again less than a half a second after.]

Yeah!

[And after shouting that, he promptly sat against one of the table legs and made to go to sleep.]