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

Hihi! ^.^

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade smiles and kills his cigarette. He's not sure if Setsuna minds, but he does it anyway just to be sure ]

Yes I am, Ma'am. Japan's very beautiful and the onsen's very calming.[ Brigade motions if she would like to sit beside him ]

I never got the chance to thank you properly for Sta. Cruz. [ He smiles and chuckles inside. The mission really means a lot to him even though the Hounds agrees it "never" happened ]

[sadame]

[And immediately coming over. She places one paw on his thigh, briefly, before curling right up beside him.]

There is no need to thank me. It is what I am meant to do now. And, as things stand, I should be the one thanking you.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade thinks on it then smiles ] No, Ma'am, it was only the right thing to do.

[ He thinks of how things changed between him and Hikaru after that day ] And you're the one who brought him and me to try trusting each other as an option.

[sadame]

That, I think, was a decision that the both of you made on your own.

[Plopping her head down on his leg now, glancing up.]

May I?

Dangit, foxy lady fox. haha

[atlas_shrugged]

It's be my honor and pleasure, Ma'am. [ Brigade crosses his legs to make for her a more comfortable space and lifts her up and places her there ]

:3

[sadame]

[Ah. Much better.

Curling up properly now.]

Thank you. [Aaand glancing up.] You're not going to get in? The hot springs are nice.

[atlas_shrugged]

I think I'm good here, with your company, Ma'am, for the moment. May I light up? [ He picks up his pack and shakes it ] I promise not to get any ash on your fur.

[sadame]

Of course.

[Amused.]

I smoke myself, you know.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade offers her his pack of cigarettes ] Shall I hold yours for you or are you going to surprise me with the dexterity of your tails? [ Brigade smiles, really expecting the latter, but not minding if it were the former ]

[sadame]

Well, since you asked...

[Using her tails now. She has had a LOT of practice.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade laughs and places his pack in a spot where it'd easy for her to take a stick whenever she wanted. He takes a long drag and starts puffing circles. ] If I may, Ma'am, what's your secret to aging so gracefully? [ How she's immortal since she was born with Hikaru in his first life cycle. He knows she'll get it cause she's Setsuna. ]

[sadame]

I had to die first.

[Saying that matter-of-factly.]

I have not been human for a while now.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade's used to this now. If he desensitized before Netsach, he's practically numb now, to things like this. ]

Could I ask what happened? [ He pauses and appreciates her lying there in his lap ] You still seem very human to me, Ma'am. [ Not in the physical-supernatural kind of way. In the kindness and good-heartedness kind of way ]

[sadame]

It's all in the records, really.

[Sounding thoughtful as she's taking a puff. Whodathunk a fox could smoke?]

Aidan, Riley, Orin and I had to stop Nyx from coming once, a long time ago. Before 2012.

[atlas_shrugged]

I haven't yet had the time to read your file, Ma'am, I apologize. [ There is another reason behind that as well ] It's also because I've been trying to avoid the files until I get to speak to the individual first. It's been a see-saw so far.

I'm guessing I'll find that in the file as well? And that it's the reason you died and became a spirit, Ma'am?

[sadame]

Yes. We can talk about it, though, if you want to hear it from me.

[She doesn't mind at all.]

Besides, we have not been able to talk at length yet.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade smiles at this ] I've found, Ma'am, that the dossiers and files only tell so much, and that the real stories [ He remembers his walk with Father Aidan ] can only be found out from the person involved.

I would like to talk longer with you too. I would like to get to know my Brother's sister better.

[sadame]

And I would like to get to know you better too. You and the rest of your blade.

[They've done plenty for Hikaru. She can tell.]

I just hope that there will be enough time for us to do that.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ That last statement is so ambiguous that Brigade's mind races over the possibilities she could mean ] Ma'am, what do you mean? [ He's expecting bad, worse and worst. ] Are you leaving soon? Or is there something coming that we should prepare for? [ The "worst" he doesn't verbalize. Nyx? Grendal? Something else of equal magnitude? ]

[sadame]

I will have to go eventually. All of this has been a bit of an extended vacation for me.

[Sounding just a little bit sad, but trying to make light of the situation.

Does that remind you of somebody?]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ The way it's delivered, she sounds so much like Hikaru ] We will see you again, Ma'am, won't we? [ He's sad at that. And thinks of their first meeting. How she told him the story of Sister Sun and Brother Moon. Her constant presence had almost made him forget that she wasn't here permanently. That she hadn't left yet because her purpose had not arrived.

He wished the purpose could wait another week. Maybe a month. Or a year. Hikaru and Setsuna deserved to have more time together ]

[sadame]

I hope we do.

[She really, really, really does.

She is also not about to mention to him how, by the two of them getting close, the chances of them seeing each other again get slimmer by the minute.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade can sense the melancholy in her voice ] I think I'm happy to stay right here for the moment. [ He rubs the space between her ears ] Just spend some time with you while you're still here. [ He'll spend time with the others later. He'll savor the time Setsuna can spare with him. ]

[sadame]

[Mmm, that is nice enough to be distracting. A little.]

I'm not about to complain. Thank you.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Brigade smiles and just keeps rubbing the space between her ears. It's enough. Sharing a moment of peace like this is enough. ]