Scene #8144: Mandatory Hot Springs Filler Episode

Owner	Pose
Remee Halcyon	The aftermath of Hiromi's little venture is still being worked out elsewhere. This isn't about that, aside from nursing some injuries from all of those events. This is about a hot springs in a quiet town two hops over - a traditional style, Japanese-esque setup. In reality it's Japanese via imported aesthetics only, built in a world that's never had a Japan (or Japan-analogue), and based more on the popular conception of a hot springs than any actual details - the end result being that it feels more Japanese by being fake than accurate, in much the same way that well-cut glass can shine brighter than any real diamond. There's a single spring here - steam and towels are intended to handle enough modesty for a co-ed spring, as opposed to dividing the area up into thirds to handle appropriate gender-based segregation. There are privacy barriers that can be set up if someone does feel the need for their own section, though. Remee's got the whole place booked, including the small set of adjoining inn rooms, and has put the call out about it. She's neck deep in the water by the time anyone else arrives, just vibing. There's a few tabletop grills set up nearby as well, with trays of raw meat waiting - technically a Korean style setup, not Japanese.
Ishirou	Ishirou, having spent some time buried in a building after getting one clapped by Hiromi spent most of yesterday in casts and in a bed staring at the ceiling and generally both having a bad time, but a mild mental break at the fact that Hiromi just destroyed his new suit. In one shot. Ishirou is not having a good time right now. However, nothing could prepare him for what was about to happen. Ishirou, in a towel, shows up at the hot springs, because he read up on Japanese-style ones. Then the horror dawns on him that this was co-ed. Oh no. Oh nooooo.... Ishirou immediately sinks into the water. If he gets the privacy barriers then people will smell his fear...Okay, if he doesn't get out of the water he should be fine. Those who can see though, Ishirou is a very soft boy. Not fat or anything, just...unexercised and also generally bruised and hurt in his bones right now. What was he going to do..?
Stanley Padgett	Stanley Padgett has not gotten outside of his world all that much. He's taken trips with other Elites, sure, to help people out, but this is pretty much his first 'for fun' trip that wasn't immediately preempted by someone telling him he should go back to class. Maybe because this is the weekend, Stanley. That said the young man seems to be in his Mood already as he shuffles into the place. "Hello, Miss Halcyon! I brought uh... grillin' stuff if you need some more, but the ladies downstairs frowned at me so uh.... they have it." At least Stanley doesn't seem to be shy about wearing a towel and nothing else in here. He's a lean kid, not skinny-lean but like 'runner' skinny. Someone who's used to having to scamper. There are also some rather suspect scars on his body. Things from before he had the miracle of magical healing. He slips into the water across from Remee, and near to Ishirou. "I guess I missed a really big fight. Anything I can help you guys with?"
Hellwarming Trio	"It's been a while since we've come to one of these." "Right? I don't think Master's even seen besides the one back home." "Remember to behave while you're in. We don't want to make things awkward for anyone." After their last battle, the trio of hellions haven't had much time to really relax. Utsuho and Rin have been busy with their work at the furnaces and gathering bodies, as usual, and Satori has had her own hands full looking into combat theories and strategy. Thus, with the invitation to visit the hot springs in a nearby town, they're quick to jump on it and join their companions at the springs. Against their wishes, Utsuho and Rin both show up with plenty of towels on to keep themselves modest, followed closely by Satori from behind. Spotting quite a few familiar faces, they naturally veer towards Remee and Ishirou and Stanley without any regards given to Ishirou's plight. "Thaaat's the stuff. How ya feelin', bros? Sis? Hot enough for ya?" "Heh. You call that hot? I could heat it up if-" "Don't. We're here to relax, not compete in the baths. Besides, that's what the sauna is for." "Fine, fiiine. Oh, but grilling stuff sounds good, too. I'll get on it later." "Help, eh? Ain't no such thing as not enough meat, if you got more lying around."
Petra Soroka	Left wrist, orbital bone, clavicle, fibula, and two ribs, six in total. This brings Petra's lifelong sum of broken bones up to exactly six. The aftermath of Hiromi's challenge has left Petra aching to a degree she hasn't experienced before, but when she arrives at the onsen, her expression is glowing underneath all the discoloration. She walks awkwardly with her crutch, clearly not used to it, especially having difficulty holding up her towel coming out of the changing room. Petra beams at Remee and greets her, raising up a hand to wave, but upon seeing the boys also out here she snatches her towel closer in a panic. "Remee! Hi-- ack!" She sounds almost accusatory, "The baths are co-ed?" She scuttles over near Remee, but doesn't get into the bath yet, keeping her front aimed defensively towards the boys. "Hey, Ishirou, Stanley." It's not clear what's gotten her so self-conscious. Beneath the bruises, her body is delicately taken care of, miraculously not even a broken nail, and her blonde hair is neatly tied up into a bun. She shifts uncomfortably, her expression stiff. "How, are you all holding up after the battle?"
Hiromi	The legal battle and blame game has only just begun, elsewhere. Clean-up crews are working. Mercs are sweating. Reconstruction hasn't even begun. Few would think to even ask where the elites had gone to, after heading back through the warpgate. 'Few' is more than 'none.' The PMCs aren't the only ones who had prior close encounters with the pressuring presence of the Archwolf. The same office lady as had made a call while looking at the battle winding down made a few inquiries, to the predictable discovery that some elites are stealthier by habit than others. There only has to be one for a trail to be left, and followed, only a couple of worlds away, for an adept hunter. Even a culturally faking it hot springs needs a nice supply of stone over which to build, and why not use that as part of the aesthetic? One doesn't need a deep understanding of wabi-sabi to place smooth stones around the water. One would not, usually, expect a tanned, tightly-muscled, almost-human arm to appear from within a stone, reaching out of it without breaking the surface, like the stone itself was water -- or gel, or slick lava, yet without the glow of heat. Furred ears follow, then a head of long, dark hair that goes past the waist of the emerging figure. Hiromi finishes her climb from within the earth directly to the bathing area, skipping the entrance of the establishment, and takes a cross-legged seat. Her smile, this time, shows no teeth, and her looming presence doesn't extend past the immediate walls.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley, still getting settled in, waves to Hiromi. "Oh! Lady Wolf! Nice to see you again... uh, outside of horrible dream worlds. Sorry I haven't kept up, but uh, school's been busy, and then I almost got murdered, so uh." He looks around at all the other people who have piled in around him though, and blinks. "Uh, Hi! I'm Stanley, I'm from Lampport, and I only know some of you..."
Petra Soroka	Seeing the head of the Archwolf emerge from the stone by Petra's feet pulls a comical squeak of fear out of her. She instinctively lashes out a kick at Hiromi, fumbles her crutch, and falls against one of the tables. A hiss of pain slips through her teeth and panic runs through her as her towel starts to slip. Face red and tears already welling up in her eyes, she gestures at the Archwolf angrily. "Who invited you here!! You're the reason we're all hurt!"
Rita Ma	In a changing room, Rita absentmindedly pulls at her jacket, expecting it to come off. It sort of does, coming undone as a mess of chameleonic tentacles. She sighs, deflated and a little exasperated with herself. The tentacles that can pretend to be clothes can also pretend to be normal skin. But the fact that she can't even get undressed properly makes Rita feel more embarrassed, not less. When she finally emerges, she's wearing the biggest possible towel, wrapped around her completely like a robe. Her hair's tied up in a cute little bun. "Oh, no! Ms. Petra! Are you going to be okay?! And Mr. Ishirou!" She hurries over to the former, extends a hand as if there's some way she could help, and then casts an anxious glance over to the latter. "I heard something was happening, but... I'm really sorry I couldn't be there to help." She really doesn't know what that something was. So when, after she's seated herself by the side of the hot springs and studiously pretended to grill some meat she's definitely just going to eat raw, Hiromi emerges nearby, she treats it more with surprise than shock. "Ms. Grier isn't here, you know," she says warily, remaining seated. "So you're not going to make problems, are you?" Apart from that event, their interactions have been remarkably neutral-to-positive.
James Bond	A familiar black Aston is parked nearby. The driver, bumping up the spring's assassin count by one, is wrapped in a towel from the waist down. A man in his early forties, he's tall and athletically built, with a strong jawline and a slight cleft chin. His muscled back is to the spring, as he's presently preparing one of the grills. Marinated pork belly and bulgogi then sizzle appetizingly. "Where's the samjang sauce?" he asks without turning, locating it a moment later. "Never mind." His picks are loaded onto a plate, a little helping of sauce dabbed onto the side from a small bowl, for easy dipping. "There are several pressure points essential to close-quarters combat. If I see any of you double dipping, I'll introduce you personally." Stepping away from the grill and helping himself to his selections, he peers at Hiromi. "Archwolf," he says in neutral, polite greeting, slightly inclining his head rather than gesturing with his utensils. He's made it out relatively unscathed from last time--save a nick on the top of his ear, from when her claws smashed through the impact-resistant back window of his car like it was nothing. "Rita," he then politely greets, as she emerges.
Ishirou	Ishirou is likely extremely beet red now that people have shown up in the water. He sort of keeps his head down, though nearly jumps at Petra's surprise...well it's somewhat comforting to know that he's not alone in modesty. This is going to be his most difficult challenge yet. "Uh...hi, Rin, Utsuho, and Satori.." he says, with an air of nervousness. "It's...uh...warm enough yeah." He doesn't raise his gaze up for Stanley either, "Well, there was a fight between us and the Ar-" Hiromi sits in the bath. Ishirou goes pale and sinks into the water, his mouth covered by it as he tries not to give away how afraid he is right now... Then Petra attempts to kick, fails, and flops over. He winces at her attempt. He can't even look up to acknowledge Rita. Though his mouth raises above the surface again. "No, I am pretty awful right now.." he says, not even looking. POD, on the other hand, chimes in, "Entity Hiromi, engaged with the others here, with the exception of Stanley Padget." POD, who is friendly to Rita hovers closer.
Remee Halcyon	Ishirou doesn't actually get noticed by Remee as he comes in. She's off in her own little world at the moment - not quite formal meditation, and maybe a bit closer to having actually dozed off. She doesn't come back to awareness till Stanley speaks up - and by then Ishirou has really entirely escaped her notice until and unless he makes noise or moves too much. "Stanley!" she says. "Hey, c'mon in. Water's fine - actually a bit too warm, hah." "Honestly you should be... kind of glad you missed this one. Hiromi... I don't know if she was going all out or if this is just how she normally is, but it got bad." She doesn't comment on the grilling implements (or foods?) getting confiscated. The trio get a wave. "Hey! Um, maybe not 'sis', if that's fine? I'm sort of going to be fighting against my actual brothers and sister eventually, probably, so-" "- so, anyway, yeah, if you want to take first shift on the grill, that'd be great. Just leave some extra-rare, please." Petra gets a glance, and a sympathetic look at the injuries. Remee technically took a worse hit, but not everyone can heal back up to full from literal chunks on the side of the street. "Doing alright," she says, which isn't entirely true. Nothing physical, though trying to fight after playing dead (actually momentarily dead) takes some serious relaxation to deal with. Rita gets a wave - and then her attention focuses on Hiromi. "What..." She sits up straight. "What are..."
Hellwarming Trio	"Yeah, why wouldn't it be co-ed? It's easier that way." "Humans got hang ups over that kinda stuff, remember?" "Don't worry, Miss Petra. I'm sure those two will be on their best behavior." Just in case, though, Satori's going to try reading Ishirou's and Stanley's thoughts just a bit when the co-edness is brought up. Hiromi's arrival gets three different reactions from the three youkai. Utsuho's is perhaps the friendliest of the three, grinning brightly at her despite still sporting some bruises from getting slammed into and through so much architecture during the recent battle. "Hey, wolf lady. Didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon. How's it going?" She even laguhs after seeing Ishirou's reaction, reaching over to clap his shoulder firmly. Satori has to reach over to make sure her towel doesn't fall off. Rin's reaction is far more startled, practically jumping out of her skin to keep Utsuho between herself and Hiromi. Like Utsuho, she's probably got the worst of the bruises between the three, although the towel does conveniently hide most of them. "Gyeh! Y... Yo, what're you doin' here?" Satori's reaction, finally, is considerably more subdued than Rin and Petra's, although not without an initial shock from the way Hiromi arrives. Compared to Utsuho and Rin, she managed to get out of it the best! Sort of. "G... Greetings. You're looking well, all things considered." Remee's request to not be called 'sis', meanwhile, gets a firm nod from Rin once she gets over Hiromi being there. "S... Sure thing, yeah. Dang, that must suck." Eventually, Utsuho tags out to swap places with Rita and James once they're done with the grill. "Alriiight... Who wants it how done? I know there's couple of us that like it real bloody!" She calls out with a knowing nod towards Remee, getting an approving noise from Rin in response as well.
Hiromi	Hiromi's eyes settle on Stanley, then work up and down as if committing something to memory, or looking for something. Finally, she says, "Half-spirit boy. I remember. Do you visit many dreams?" They've met the once, on Captain Hook's adventure. Petra aims a kick. It is remarkably less effective with crutches and a towel than the last time she'd leapt at Hiromi. "'Invited.'" She looks into the middle-distance, searching her memories for something apparently necessary for her to understand Petra's question. "No. Not 'vampire.' Wolf." Watching her fall, "Your healing. Is it slow? I'll wait." Patiently, from her tone and poise. Rita asks a question. "'Problems.' I don't make them." Hiromi has never made problems in her life. In any case, she hasn't moved from where she's seated. She's not even wound up. Her present level of menace is purely passive, that inherent to the presence of a large and merely potentially dangerous creature that has yet to open its mouth and hint at its preferred diet by the size and shape of its teeth. "'Grier.'" Again, the sense of her searching her memory, as she tries to fit a nonverbal descriptor to the name.
Stanley Padgett	"Uh, actually, yeah, all the time." Stanley is jostled a bit by movement, bumping into Utusho as the commotion continues in the spring. "My uh.... my world's dream side is bumped right up against the real side and we have to hunt in the dreams pretty often." If Stanley seems cowed by Hiromi, it doesn't show, at least until POD explains, and then he looks around to the others... and then back to Hiromi. "You sure know how to make an impression." Satori? Stanley's brain is amazingly easy to read, like the rest of him. He is a straight forward soul. That said, 'shame about being naked around others' is sort of tied up in a mishmash of bad feelings that are labeled 'foster shit' and shelved somewhere Stanley doesn't like to look. So he doesn't.
Ishirou	Ishirou's thoughts are actually fairly reserved. He's less afraid of being seen and more afraid of seeing something people would be uncomfortable with. This is considerable given the fact that Ishirou has so many extra senses, and is in fact trying his best to keep them focused in other directions for others' modesty. Also a touch of personal issues with his body image, especially compared to some of the others here who radiate strength. Ishirou can have multiple thought processes going on at the same time. These are minor thoughts compared to what's really got his head space going right now. The talks yesterday didn't really relieve the stress of what happened to his armor, his self-value in the face of those who could touch him and break him, or touch anything he could build and break it. It isn't fear right now, but doubt that his path was a fool's journey and that it really strength trumps wisdom. When Hiromi mentions she doesn't make them, he shoots a glare up at her. "That stuff we just dealt with was a huge problem that you caused," This is likely the first time his voice raised above a whisper, for Renee's ability to hear him. Lowering his eyes again, nearly sinking below the surface of the water again. Up to his mouth. To Utsuho's question, he answers, "Medium, please.." his mouth raising up to speak and then lowering again.
Remee Halcyon	Remee takes a breath. "Hiromi, this is..." ... This is a get-together to recover from you. That's what she wants to say. But - it's so obvious, right? It's like describing that the sky is blue. Hiromi has to know that, right? And yet she's here anyway. "... Nevermind." No, not nevermind. Remee needs to say or do something. Hiromi's presence is... something she'll have to do something to resolve her own relationship to, in some sense. Food first, though. Food will help. "Hey! Yeah, just throw it on the grill long enough to sear it," she calls. "And I call dibs on first!" She climbs up out of the spring, going straight over towards the grills. She hasn't bothered with any towels.
Ishirou	Ishirou sinks farther the moment he realizes this. This is not going to be a good day for him.
Petra Soroka	Petra settles into a more comfortable position on the bench, careful not to move too quickly. She scowls at Hiromi, but something about what the Archwolf says softens her expression. I'll wait. It's only the tiniest phrase, but the acknowledgement that Petra did fight this monster, and survived to fight again in the future, validates her. Both sides coming together after a fight, relaxing and healing, treating each other as warriors. Petra really likes that idea, so she decides to let the Archwolf's presence slide. "I, I guess you're right, Satori," Petra eyes the two boys with an alarming glint of hostility in her eyes, "I'm not really worried about these two." She stands up from the bench, hesitantly approaching the water, then squeaks and turns away in embarrassment when a naked Remee emerges. "Um! It's just awkward!"
James Bond	Once he finishes, Bond sets his plate aside, casually ditches the towel, and steps into the spring proper. "Don't bother explaining accountability to the Concord," says Bond to Ishirou, settling in within striking distance of Hiromi. "You'd have more success selling tulips in Holland."
Rita Ma	Rita furrows her brow at Hiromi while chewing a piece of raw meat. Her diet is known. "You know Ms. Grier. Tall, with the..." She starts to gesture, then decides maybe it's best not to remind her about Liza after all, and unwisely accepts the statement about problems at face value with a precious little nod. "Okay. Good." "Ms. Petra!" When her friend falls over, Rita scrambles to her feet and darts close, not quite fast enough to keep Petra from falling over. She holds out a hand, offering to pull Petra to her feet, but then thinks better of it, and instead just sits down next to her. An invisible force gently corrects Petra's towel. "You can just try not to think about it, you know," Rita says to her. It's not entirely clear at first whether she's talking about the nudity or Hiromi. "I hear it's supposed to be normal, in places like this." She smiles a little shakily. "But it's not normal for us, right? So that doesn't really make it any easier, I guess."
Hiromi	Another memory-search finds a name, and Hiromi greets James with an uncanny reproduction of the way Lilian had pronounced his name, "Bond." It's still in Hiromi's voice, rather than Lilian's, making every word sound somehow off, not entirely unlike speaking a language without ever having first heard it. Word-recognition can struggle, listening to her, though the meaning still carries. "One who is chased." So that's what she remembered most. "I followed. Other trails, easier. But, you met." She wouldn't have found this place in time if it were just James Bond meeting here, that's nearly certain. Hiromi arrived here fully clothed, but that's quickly remedied before she sinks into the water, her height preventing easy submersion. Her bronze rings remain on, as well as those silent bells in her hair, so it's mostly just the vaguely martial artist gi-like article that is dumped to the side. The co-ed matter bothering Ishirou is, of course, no bother for Hiromi. Her presence is equally dangerous to both men and women, as is abundantly, instinctively obvious. To Utsuho, Hiromi says, "I am well." There is no hostility in the return, though there is ambiguity in the way she looks Utsuho down. It's merely a possibility that she's being sized up for pouncing-related reasons, if one birds should be used to getting. Maybe not Utsuho, in particular. To Rin, "Bathing." To Satori, "Yes." A sharper look, for her. Hiromi's probably never met a satori, before. Definitely not one that looked like Satori Komeiji. To mind-reading, her 'what is this?' question is obvious. She has that sort of animalistic honesty to which Satori may be accustomed. 'You sure know how to make an impression.' Stanley gets a smile for his comment. Hiromi is still careful not to show her teeth, as she has been since arrival. 'That stuff we just dealt with was a huge problem that you caused.' Her eyes fix on Ishirou. "I gave them freedom. To solve their problem. The problem generations of wrong-growing caused. You rejected their choice." She doesn't even sound like she's arguing. The faintest hint of awareness that she could be wrong is absent, making it the heavy tone of one explaining to a child. It would be more aggravating if she wasn't so naturally skilled in touching the primitive parts of the mind that look up to, subconsciously fear and respect those older and taller. It's more than her literal size that does it, but a more subtle aspect of whatever she used during that initial, intimidating howl when she appeared on the island. Remee tries to say something. Hiromi acknowledges her as, "Small wolf."
Lilian Rook	"Then I'll be certain that you don't see." comes the villainously proper and chillingly dry received pronunciation from somewhere over James' shoulder. Unable to walk through the back doors like a normal human being without Tamamo on her arm or a suitably dramatic moment, Lilian has chosen to act like a very mature adult and create her own by simply showing up, standing there right on the hot wet stones and sucking a little bit of sauce off the underside of her fingernails in sequence. "Well, well. Aren't you a ladies man, Mister Bond." she purrs, scanning her gaze around the hotspring as if she hadn't particularly bothered to look at who was here yet. Given she'd skipped here fully dressed, that's actually possible. "The last time there was a work social, it was completely the opposite of this. You know how to pick them." Her eyes alight on Ishirou. Lilian wears a beatific, eyes-closed smile. "Well, well. Aren't you a ladies man, Ishirou~" she repeats, theatrically overdone. It'd seem congratulatory, in a sly sort of way, were it not for the excessively loud click-SNAP coming from her ever so gently and enthusiastically pulling the slide of a handgun. She must mean it though. She keeps smiling, oh so sincerely, even while delicately putting it down away from the water. Just coincidentally in his direction. That sweet little moment over with, Lilian tosses her bag down next to it and turns away from the grill, both shoes tumbling out of thin air and a towel coming to hand from nowhere in particular. "'Entity' Hiromi? Really? I came all the way out here to make certain you don't get yourself done in again, and that's what you're going with as the only one of two men--" She finally catched sight of Stanley. There is a moment she should look apologetic. Lilian smirks even harder instead. "--at a co-ed pool party? Speaking of which, you--" Lilian continues, wheeling on Hiromi, pointing a finger, and then stopping dead. Her eyes go wide, her lips part a tiny bit, and the sensitive hear a whispered 'god damn' the moment before she gets right back to it. "This is an occasion to recover from what you did, isn't it?!" says Lilian, blatantly pulling the words from Remee's own head. "Have some goddamn respect for the host! Who the hell are you stalking now?!" she huffs. It'd sound more dangerous if she weren't currently pulling back her hair and looping it up into a chignon around her fingers.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley is already getting out of the water as Lilian APPEARS and MAKES HERSELF KNOWN. He squeezes the water out of the towel around his waist, but keeps it nice and snug so as not to cause Impropriety. Though he does catch Lilian's words, and then... "Ms. Rook. Hello. Here, I have a spot right here, Next to the scary wolf lady, just for you. You should come and sit here, next ot the scary wolf lady! It's all warmed up for you!" He is smiling the whole time. A pleased smile, of someone who is Doing a Good Deed. And then he walks right past Lilian and over to the grill, dripping a bit on the way. "It has been a while since I had Korean food. YOu must be Mr. Bond. I'm Stanley, it's nice to meet you!" He waits for James to not have a n impliment in his hand, to shake the spy's hand.
Petra Soroka	Even though they've only met once before, Rita unequivocally registers as a friend in Petra's mind, and her presence calms her down to such an extent that she doesn't flinch at the brief skin contact when Rita sits next to her. "For us..." Petra looks pensive, wondering how deeply into that phrase she should read. "Yeah. I can't do it so easily just because everyone else is." Her gaze wanders out to the water, skipping over the boys and lingering on Hiromi. After a few seconds, she averts her eyes, looking instead at the ground in front of her. "So, uh, Rita," Petra's silence is abruptly ended by words slipping out of her mouth, without thinking. "How often do you do stuff like this?" It's not really clear what she means by that, other than an attempt to make small talk. Driven by feelings she can't really put her finger on, Petra wants to get to know Rita better! There's something comforting about the girl, and talking to her right now is some necessary stress relief. And to directly and immediately counteract that stress relief, Lilian arrives. Petra crosses her arms in front of her chest, glaring pointedly away from her.
James Bond	Bond, very used to dangerous women approaching from his blind spot, receives Lilian's ominous threat with a warm, knowing reply. "Hello, Lilian," he says, his tone equally suited for her chilling introduction as it would be were she to press the cold steel of a pistol against his neck. "I couldn't let these young men have all the fun, could I? There's something to be said for experience, after all." Eyeballing her pistol as she sets it down to face Ishirou, "Careful you don't take mine home instead on the way back. Yours wouldn't quite match my outfit." 'One who is chased' smiles, looking over his shoulder as Hiromi steps into the spring. "The chase is rather enjoyable, under the right circumstances," he fires back. Lilian appears after, and Bond can't stifle his laugh in response to her hurled accusations at Hiromi. "Take a good look at her and tell us you honestly want her to leave," he incorrigibly responds. Stanley extends a hand, and Bond's handshake is firm. "The pleasure's all mine," he says with a smile. "But you know, you shouldn't have given up your seat that easily. Scary women build character. Isn't that right, Ishirou?"
Remee Halcyon	"... Is it really a problem?" says Remee, who had six siblings growing up. "It's nothing any of us haven't seen." Wait, Stanley is here. Remee's no longer sure if that's true or not. Well - it's true going forward, at least. Okay. Food acquired. Bravery up. Remee turns, ready to address Hiromi- - and Lilian makes an appearance, and does it for her. Remee radiates an odd mix of someone who's had their food snatched away right in front of them when they were about to eat, and simultaneous relief because they really didn't want to tackle that meal anyway, but at the same time it was their thing to tackle, but still good that they didn't have to, but it was theirs and- Please wait patiently, small wolf is rebooting. It also puts her immediately on the back foot, she feels like she should defend Hiromi now, when before she was ready to try to kick her out? Instead of responding verbally right away, she slips back into the water, using motion as an excuse to not say anything while she works her thoughts out. "Ahem. Um." Decision: sidestep the issue and speak on something else. "You... say you gave them a choice, but then you gave us a chance to override it with our choices... didn't you?" she says to Hiromi.
Hellwarming Trio	Utsuho doesn't seem to mind (or notice) the bump from Stanley much in passing, laughing as she is at the awkwardness in the hot spring while getting her grilling on. Her technique is passable, at least, although she's a little overzealous at first about keeping the fire going. Once she's settled down, however, she actually does a modest job at getting things to the right temperatures: Some medium, some rare, some REALLY rare, and a few (accidentally) burnt. Satori's digging, meanwhile, has her furrowing her brow at Stanley and Ishirou. The former's thoughts are somewhat inconclusive for her, but it's probably better than the alternative, and she doesn't give Stanley the evil eye for long after that (with the weird red eye tied around her, even). Ishirou, though... His thoughts have her gazing right at him more intently. She's not subtle about it in the slightest, especially when she slides over momentarily to tousle his hair gently. "You're doing well enough with what you can. Everyone has their specialties, so of course you would lose in a battle of strength just as others would lose to you in a battle of technology." It's a gentle gesture, at least, compared to how blunt she is about just addressing his thoughts without him saying a thing about it. Petra's response gets a laugh from Rin. "Whaaat? It's nothin nobody's ever seen... Not seen before!" She calls out, sensing an opportunity to tease her some more. Before she can, though, she yelps when Satori tugs her back down by the tail to keep her from getting too wild already. As Rin sits back down, though, she just happens to see Bond entering the hot spring sans towel. That quickly gets Rin turning away. Luckily, Hiromi's there to continue intimidating her, and she stares at the Archwolf in continued suspicion right up until Satori nudges Rin and just nods once in Hirmoi's direction. Somehow, that's enough to get the kasha to settle down, even looking relaxed within moments. It certainly helps that Satori looks quite at ease with Hiromi there. The lack of needing to dig around for anything contradictory is certainly refreshing for her to be around, although she does take some interest in Hiromi's look directed towards Utsuho. Utsuho, of course, doesn't notice the look at all. She's too fixated on getting the meat just right, and she soon returns to the hot spring with her own plate of rare and very rare pieces with some of that sauce Bond had put together. Lilian's teasing of Ishirou, meanwhile, gets Rin to smirk devilishly once more. Satori once again has to keep her in place, although the existence of meat is quite good for that. "If it's of any consolation, Dame Commander? I believe she would have started a fight already if she really wanted to."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley settles in, and tousles out his teal hair in a direction that's not going to splatter the food. "Oh, Lilian terrifies me already and I'm sure that Hiromi would too, if I had to fight her, but like..." He wobbles a hand. "It was getting crowded in there, and I'm hungry so." A smile. "Besides. The uh... vibe is shifting a bit and I didn't want to be in the crossfire." For a dumbass kid with his heart on his sleeve, he's not unobservant. "I'll have two of whatever you've got going here, Mr. Bond."
Hiromi	Despite Rita's decision not to further describe Liza, Hiromi's mind manages to get over to, "Unbleeding one. I remember." That sticks out in her mind more than the albinism. There are people here she's only met the twice, and it's for their sake that the late introduction is delivered. For the rest, it is inescapably familiar. I am Hiromi. The wordless, pictureless equivalent of seeing blazing letters across the top of one's vision, a silent gong of entry, and every subtitle at once, overlaid yet individually distinguishable. To say 'Hiromi' is the same as to say 'The Archwolf.' It is likewise the same as 'The Final Huntress' and 'The Beautiful Wolf Empress,' and the word 'Tyrant' could appear more than once. It skips the language processing center of the brain and arrives as pure understanding of concepts, which can only be understood afterward as formations of imperfect words. 'god damn' Lilian is here. Lilian is also a mind-reader. Whether she realizes that Hiromi is silently, smugly laughing behind that close-lipped smile is down to whether she's paying attention to surface thoughts. It's a 'loud' thought, though it barely touches body language. 'Have some goddamn respect for the host!' "Who?" 'Who the hell are you stalking now?!' "Several. You gathered. Convenient." She sniffs, head tilting slightly in the direction of the grill. "Will you bring me meat?" It somehow comes across as more 'curious' than 'a question.' There is no overt indication of why someone would, though a vague sense that it would be socially appropriate. Hiromi's already disrobed and is sitting in the water, after all. Hiromi catches Petra's eyes the moment she's looking, but continues to say little.
Ishirou	Ishirou can see the baleful gaze from Petra. He doesn't say anything, because he's nervous to reveal how much actual sight he has and how desperately he's trying to keep it pointed away. This is doubly so when Renee reveals her lack of modesty. James tries to convince him that arguing with the Concord is simply useless. He sinks a bit lower. Then Hiromi, who is now enjoying the bath to the fullest. 'I gave them freedom.' Ishirou goes from modest to angry and frustrated in a second. He wants to argue this point because he knows it's full of shit. Would it even matter? "Removing the sanity from people is not freedom, clouding their minds doesn't do anything but chain them down even tighter. Stop thinking we're like you, Hiromi!" he says, even with all of that pressure she passively radiates. This is immediately cut at the knees the moment Lilian shows up. He stares ahead, mortified by her implications. "I didn't say that...POD did!" he says, before sinking into the water again. This time he doesn't come up. However, when bond makes his comment, one of the buckets flies at him from across the room. Not enough to be harmful. Oddly, he also avoids his gaze from Bond too. Satori's gentle tousle and words have him surface again. Though he looks smaller than he has any right to be. "Yes, but when my specialty is easily destroyed like that..." he says, sinking in again.
Petra Soroka	"It's nothing any of us haven't seen." "Whaaat? It's nothin nobody's ever seen... Not seen before!" Petra makes a sour face at that. "Maybe." She looks genuinely a bit upset. "But not me, specifically. And that isn't changing." She shifts in the bench, now uncomfortably aware of the pain of her wounds and really wishing she could get in the bath. Instead, she just folds her hand over her wrist brace in her lap, and kicks her feet.
Rita Ma	Rita waves peppily at Lilian when she appears. "Hi, Ms. Rook!" Then, faltering just a little: "Are you really going to be getting in the spring, too...?" It has the undertone that, if even Lilian is going to do it, she might be pushed into doing it too. Her hands ball up anxiously in her lap as she looks over at Petra, but she smiles anyway. "Well, we-" implicitly, the Watch- "did a thing at the beach a few months ago! But that's not really the same as hot springs, so I guess not very often. What about you, Ms. Soroka?" Petra finding comfort in her is understandable! Even including Ishirou and Stanley, she might seem like the least threatening person present. Her genuine awkwardness and slight unease helps a lot with that, too. "Ms. Soroka... is there something bad between you and Ms. Rook?" Her anxious tone is plain, like she's desperately hoping they could somehow get along. "It's nothing any of us haven't seen." Rita makes a dubious expression. It's not clear why.
Hiromi	'The chase is rather enjoyable, under the right circumstances.' At that, though still strangely quiet for the usual size of her voice, Hiromi does laugh aloud, head tilted back and chest shaking. "You know this, too. Good." Remee asks a question. Hiromi stills as her attention focuses. "Yes. Your strength, greater than theirs. This..." She takes a moment, before continuing, "...is not enough. Responsibility, must be taken. In other cases. But, theirs is not mine. They are not my pack. Not yours. Strangers, who could become. This is why, showing your strength, alone, I accepted. Your willingness, to suffer. Some, to die." That none of the elite responders did die is beside the point. Facing Hiromi under those circumstances meant dealing with a lethal threat. One would need to be willing to die, or merely very stupid, to fight her without some special assurance. "You faced my challenge. Succeeded." Even if not everyone was able to stand on their own feet, at the end. The challenge was taken as a group, and passed as a group. Hiromi has no reservations on that point. No 'fight me one-on-one, scrub.' She's serene in the result. ...although she does take some interest in Hiromi's look directed towards Utsuho. Satori looking into the thoughts hidden behind stoic wolf expressions finds that Hiromi is, in fact, thinking about fighting Utsuho again, though it's in competition with the many others she has similar thoughts about. They'd had time for only one or two real passes during the previous battle. The nuclear fire had left a good enough impression on her as an attack to take seriously, despite her having (mostly) regenerated from it in moments.
James Bond	Bond smirks at Stanley, from the warmth of the spring. Behind him, his towel conceals the gun unwisely placed within crushing distance of Hiromi. Ducking Ishirou's hurled bucket with a laugh, he explains, for both the Archwolf and Stanley's benefit. "You're meant to cook Korean barbecue yourself," he says. "But I suppose I could show you both the finer points of handling meats." After a small smile aimed at Hiromi, he climbs back out of the spring, reaching for his towel and wrapping it back around his waist. Heading to a different tabletop grill so Utsuho can work at hers, he motions for Stanley to follow. "First and foremost," he says to Stanley, "Don't use your utensils for things other than eating or preparing food. It's considered impolite. That means no pointing, gesturing, and so on. Now," he says, reaching for some bulgogi, then some kalbi, noting each for him. "Take a few strips of meat, place them on the grill. Watch them, turn them as necessary, make sure they're cooked through. You don't have to turn them into shoe leather, but you should have a nice sear at least. Now, where are those 'grill supplies' you mentioned?" If Stanley's friends were thoughtful enough to have him bring some lettuce and rice, Bond loads him up with a lettuce cup, some rice and the aforementioned meats, providing a plate to catch stray grains. Hiromi seems like she'd like hers on the rare side--probably 'still kicking,' really. With that settled, and with the two of them thus supplied, he heads back over to the spring proper, ditches the towel once again, and steps in. "You made them believe the contracts stipulated they could invade," he says. "You're not technically wrong that they acted on their own, but a choice made based on false pretenses supplied by someone else doesn't hold the same weight as a choice made with all the facts. It's rare in life that someone should have all of the facts, I'll freely admit. But when you knock over a domino, you're responsible for the ones that fall afterwards, in a way, even if you only pushed the first one."
Hellwarming Trio	'Will you bring me meat?' Utsuho's way ahead of her there. After making sure Satori and Rin have gotten their fill, she settles back into her seat in the spring and slides the rest (mostly rare and very rare pieces) over to Hiromi. It doesn't take long for Utsuho to start sinking into the water with a relaxed and droning noise. It's interrupted a few times by her lifting her head to keep the water off her face, but she's definitely letting the water do its thing in soothing those aches and pains from the fight. She'll hear of Hiromi's desire to battle once again soon enough. Satori might take a while to let her know about it, but it's not like she can hide those things from her pets for long. Satori purses her lips at Ishirou's continued wallowing, taking a longer moment to consider her next words carefully (and make sure Utsuho's towel doesn't float off) (and also to duck a bit when the bucket goes flying). "Would you expect a computer to overpower a boulder? Or a boulder to fly further than an arrow? I was expecting you to be smarter than this, after hearing so much from my pets." Hearing Petra's thoughts, though, has Satori looking right at Petra again. She shifts over slightly to open up some more space in the bath, then too-obviously turns to keep an eye on Bond after hearing Lilian address him and his own words. She's not mistrustful of him, but she's definitely keeping her guard up for the time being.
Remee Halcyon	> "Not me specifically." "Sorry - didn't mean to imply you had to," says Remee, looking abashed. "Once you're healed up, I'll plan something you can join in on a bit better, alright?" "Like - camping? You like camping?" she asks. > Hiromi Hiromi's words slot into Remee's mind. "That... makes sense," she says. There's a question on her mind, on her lips - but... ... It'd be better to ask later. Not around others.
Lilian Rook	"I respect your noble sacrifice in taking time out of your busy day and the mental exhaustion of recent events to chaperone the irresponsible youth." Lilian replies to Bond, theatrically grave. "I think this is a rare sort of situation in which your very best attempt to sound cavalier about it would still fail to make me think of you as anything other than the responsible adult." An amused little scoff follows his bad joke. "Please. I couldn't possibly make such a silly mistake. Your hands are half again as big as mine. Even with those compact models, the grip wouldn't sit right." 'Here, I have a spot right here, Next to the scary wolf lady, just for you.' "It doesn't work if you call her scary out loud you know." Lilian groans at Stanley, even going so far as to roll her eyes. "Well, minors are entitled to have their cute little eccentricities and hangups, I suppose." she said, removing her fingers from her brand new updo, about half as half-assed as it should be. "But that sounds like a 'skill issue' to me." A square pile of Lilian's neatly folded clothes softly falls out of thin air and on top of her bag, the sound of flopping fabric being all the effect budget anyone is going to get to keep track of anything going on. Even with bare feet, Lilian somehow manages to sound like she is marching to the water. A provided towel is wrapped around her hips and no higher, showing the black pendant resting slightly above her heart along with what is scientifically referred to as 'girl abs'. When she gets to the water, she smoothly drops herself into it barely an arm's reach away from Hiromi, folds her arms just low enough to be assertive, and turns her chin up at Stanley. "I'll sit in her lap if I bloody well please." 'Hi, Ms. Rook!' "Hi Rita~ Pleased to see you~" The switch is like night and day. Reclining against the edge, Lilian wiggles her fingers at the other girl as part of a little 'royal wave', and suddenly allows herself to actually relax in the water. "So, who has been saying inappropriate things and how badly do I have to punish them?" she asks, sounding frightfully genuine. 'If it's of any consolation, Dame Commander? I believe she would have started a fight already if she really wanted to.' "I'm quite aware." says Lilian with a little sigh. "But after last time . . . Well, the possibility doesn't bother me as much as before. I know I'm closer to where I want to be." she adds. "And thank you for taking care of these two idiots as long as you have. As 'junior detectives', they've been a real handful, so I can only respect that grind." 'I didn't say that...POD did!' Lilian holds her hand to her ear. "Hmm? What's that? I thought I heard you bringing up the fact that you brought a sensor support drone to a hotspring!" 'Who?' Lilian huffs nonverbally. Her finger spins lazy circles in the direction of the others, then she decides to not tell any fibs this time and points at Remee. "Big dog; little dog." For some reason, she glances sideways at Petra. "Can't you see she's become a shrinking violet?"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley ahhs and nods. "I hadn't done this side of things before, I've had like... bulgogi and ramyun and the army stew stuff before, lots of hot pot sort of things." He picks up the knack of it quick enough, and grumbles. "I had like... American grilling stuff and the ladies downstairs didn't take kindly, so." He shrugs. "I'll figure this out. Thank you, Mr. Bond." But Bond slips away, and then there's more... politicking going on in the water. Stanley takes a bit of his lettuce wrap, and watches the whole of them all. The idea that 'maybe you SHOULD have joined one of the factions, Stanley' has firmly left his mind at this point. You might have gotten a bunch of friends right away, Stanley tells himself, but this was supposed to be a party. Look at all this. And for once in his life, Stanley Padgett resists the urge to Fix Things and Make Friends. There's meat to be eaten, and he just watches the social strata unfold.
Remee Halcyon	> "Big dog; little dog." Remee's focus immediately leaves Hiromi and her thoughts immediately leave the unasked question on her mind. "Hey!" she says, turning around in her seat, facing towards Lilian. "Not a dog!" She is not a dog, and she does not want headpats.
Petra Soroka	"is there something bad between you and Ms. Rook?" Petra notices the anxiety, and the whining she was about to let pour out of her dies in her throat with a sigh. "She's..." She searches for the right words, "She said some cruel things to me. Made fun of mistakes I made in my first proper battle." There's a slight reframing of events in her favor, for anyone listening closely. "...I think I got the impression that I'm not the only one who feels that way about her." Petra raises her head to look up at Remee, then looks up slightly farther, blushing. "Oh! You don't need to apologize, or anything, it's not your fault. Camping sounds like a lot of fun though, I'd be happy to join for that."
Hiromi	'Removing the sanity from people is not freedom, clouding their minds doesn't...' "'Sanity.' Few humans have this." Maybe Liza would agree with Hiromi there, at least. "No clouding. Only, shifting. Paper to paper." Despite not really explaining it in at-all clear terms, and it being a vitally important question to at least tens of thousands of people just recently, the shifting away of attention makes Hiromi seem bored of the topic. Bond certainly wasn't entirely wrong in saying that it would be fruitless to impress a sense of accountability on the Archwolf that she hadn't already accepted. It's that he seized on the manner Hiromi did it that gets her to keep speaking. "'Dominoes.' Falling tiles. I could hold them steady. Knock this one. That one. Hold all, or none. Strike first, second, fifth, last. I'll tell you why, then. Why I did not hold them more tightly." Her eyes remain focused on James even while she tears into the meat Utsuho brings her. That first flash of teeth since her arrival is bright and sharp. "I like humans." As if that explained everything. 'I'll sit in her lap if I bloody well please.' "Fighters live dangerously. More the young. But, even old ones still wish to prove."
Ishirou	Ishirou withers a little, Satori has a better way with words that her two pets...dramatically lack. "That's not what I meant..." he says, feeling fairly boneless right now. "It feels unsurmountable. The difference between us is beyond closing. If I do anything, build anything...and she decides it's not right according to her ideas, she can just come by and kick it down. It doesn't matter how smart I am, or how brave I am.." "It seems like sand running through my fingers." Ishirou withers a lot more at what Lilian says. "Wh...what am I just supposed to leave POD in a locker? That doesn't feel right.." he says before dipping below the water line again. Hiromi simply rebuffs any assertion he makes. He just looks slightly towards Satori as if to say 'see?'.
James Bond	"Of course. It's easier than it looks," calls Bond to Stanley from the warmth of the water. "All it takes is learning by doing, and a little forgetting yourself. It's as much a style of cuisine as it is a social outing." "Don't let it get to you," says Bond to Petra. "Taking the piss is an Irish speciality. Their way of saying 'welcome to the neighborhood.' Besides," he amusedly continues, "The good thing about catching hell from Lilian is, you'll rarely make the same mistake twice." Pause. "Unless you're Hibiki, of course." Satori watching him warily earns her a sly smile. "Cat got your tongue?" Hiromi's response draws a chuckle. It may have been uttered as if it explained everything, but for Bond, it may well have done exactly that. "As attractive an ideology as 'the strong survive' is," he says in response, "You of all people should know how subjective strength is. A hurricane doesn't care how persuasive you are. A single father can't discipline a bomb; an athlete can't outrun ecological collapse." "We distance ourselves from nature because a jaguar in the woods doesn't care how your family will be affected if it breaks your neck. It doesn't care and can't know the nature of what it's done. I'll be the first one to admit that civilization isn't perfect, but you're not doing humanity a favor by throwing the baby out with the bathwater."
Rita Ma	"Everyone's been good, Ms. Rook! You don't have to punish anyone," Rita says, evidently pleased to report that fact. Then, with a dash of plucky bravery: "Do you mind if I sit next to you in a little bit?" That this will put her within ten feet of Hiromi evidently isn't a dealbreaker. Rita's eyes drift down towards her lap as Petra speaks. Her fingers clutch tense little handfuls of her towel. "Oh," she says. "I'm sorry, Ms. Soroka. ... I know, sometimes, Ms. Rook can be sort of harsh. She's my friend, but I still see that. I'm sorry that harshness found you at a bad time." She speaks quietly enough that it's clear Lilian isn't supposed to hear her, but maybe not quietly enough to actually not be heard. When she looks back up at Petra, she's wearing a smile, but it's obviously still plastering over at least a little anxiety. "I think you're both good people. I hope someday things work out, but I understand if they don't. Not even all good people can get along, right?"
Petra Soroka	"I think you're both good people." "If even Lilian fits that description for you, I don't know who wouldn't...." Petra's expression twists doubtfully, "But I'll keep that in mind." That's in acknowledgement towards Bond, too. Though maybe his words have less weight in her mind than Rita's. Petra looks directly at Lilian for the first time, squinting. She runs through the words Lilian said, mulling them over, then her eyes widen in an, unrelated and belated, realization. "That thing is a SENSOR DRONE?" She wraps her arms around herself tightly and shoots and absolutely fierce look at Ishirou. "What is it doing here?? You creep!"
Hellwarming Trio	"They've taken care of me almost as long as I have them, so it worked out." Satori replies to Lilian, chuckling for a moment before turning a smile towards her. "And thank you for helping to guide their energies towards something productive when I couldn't." "We're Junior Asskickers now, too!" Rin interjects, getting a slow nod and pat on the head from Satori in response. Utsuho's starting to outright nap in that pool, too, until Satori gives her a gentle kick that tips her over juuust enough to draw water in and get the raven sputtering and flipping back upright. "... They really do mean well. They've spoken quite well of you, too, if you were wondering." Satori explains with another tired/relaxed groan while letting the heated water wash over her again and tempting her into nodding off. She opens one eye when Ishirou answers her, though, tilting her head away slowly to get a light crack out of her neck. "What's that human phrase... Ah. You're comparing apples and bananas." Satori smirks slgihtly, clearly proud of herself for remembering thatone. "You're a human of... Some sort, and she's an animal." There's a pause as she looks over at Hiromi, trying to guess at how similar she might be to Utsuho and Rin before turning her attention back to Ishirou. "No amount of overthinking and preparation will give you her strengths, or her yours short becoming each other. If you really wanted that, I'm sure you could devise or discover some kind of cursed thing to swap bodies." With that solution offered, Satori finally catches Bond smiling right at her, and she furrows her brow at him in response. "No, I'm just... Making sure you're behaving. THere's plenty of mature woman here for you to set your sights on, after all." She says with a skeptical tone while also possibly being the least impressive looking person here.
Lilian Rook	'Stop thinking we're like you, Hiromi!' "Some of us are." Lilian suddenly interjects. At first, it sounds like an accident; a thought she hadn't meant to speak aloud. The way she looks at Ishirou, though, flat and lukewarm and tiredly questioning, makes it feel as if it wasn't quite. 'Don't use your utensils for things other than eating or preparing food. It's considered impolite. That means no pointing, gesturing, and so on. Now' Lilian raises her voice and cups a hand to project it towards the grill. "Oh come off it! It's not complicated!" She puts on an exaggerated affect. "Meat from fire! Fire from heat! Put meat on fire until hot! Christ, you people!" By which she evidently means 'men who grill'. Still not really clear why she keeps eyeballing Petra's and Rita's conversation though. 'Hey!" she says, turning around in her seat, facing towards Lilian. "Not a dog!' "You literally turn into a dog at every available opportunity." says Lilian. The retort is so dry that it sounds as if she can barely believe she has to say it. "You turned into a dog when we had to investigate a crime scene. For what godforsaken reason?" 'Wh...what am I just supposed to leave POD in a locker? That doesn't feel right..' "I wouldn't mind leaving you a the locker instead, if that's your hangup~" At this point she clearly knows that Ishirou knows well enough what he can and can't get away with, but it's more amusing to do this than to listen to his personal crisis of faith. "What kind of man whines and mopes like that when surrounded by . . ." Weirdly, she glances at Bond instead. ''Sanity.' Few humans have this.' "Tch." 'I like humans.' "That makes one of us." Lilian blinks rapidly in recognition of that voice in her ears being hers." She looks up at Rita with extreme focus instead. 'Everyone's been good, Ms. Rook! You don't have to punish anyone' "Well, if you say so. But if there are any words you suddenly need to ask me about . . ." She trails off with a maliciously subvocalized laugh. "Oh, I'm saving you a spot right now!"
Ishirou	Ishirou doesn't seem particularly uplifted by Satori's words, in fact, probably he sinks a little more under the water. No amount of overthinking and preparation...which was the idea he was pursuing, at least in his mind. Wisdom over strength, but... She more agrees with his crisis than turns him away from it. Things go downhill fast. Petra's response to POD causes him to look as if struck, then seemingly shrink lower. This is followed up by the threat of a locker and THEN calling him out for moping right AFTER she just caused the yelling from Petra. "It's here because it's an extension of me. Next time if your mouth says something to offend Lilian, I'll ask you to leave it in the locker," he says dully, and perhaps a little meanly because he's not in a great mood now. He finally stands up and holds the towel close to him. "Sorry," he finally says, mopily, before heading back to the dressing room.
Rita Ma	Rita's lips pull into a funny shape. She picks her words slowly, out of obvious consideration for how tangible Petra's pain is. "I think... people are really big. And the edges we touch when we interact with them are really small. Someone who hurt you can still be a good person, ninety-nine percent. And someone who was good to you can still be a bad person." A bittersweet smile follows. "But that's also the reason why good people can't always get along. If someone shows you a bad face, you don't have a responsibility to forgive them. That's what I think. So I'll be a little sad, but of course I won't blame you." She hesitates for a moment, then adds: "I left my satchel back in the changing rooms, but I've got some good pain medicine in it. Are you taking anything right now? I can give you some when we leave." After a little while longer, Rita offers Petra a hug, then gets up and walks to the edge of the onsen. After taking a breath to steel herself, she realizes the easy solution: she turns invisible, discards her towel, and then hops in, only reappearing next to Lilian once her body's safely hidden by the water. "Actually, there was one word, Ms. Rook," she says. "I think Mr. Bond said it." There's a pause as she dredges her memory for the correct pronunciation. "Ms. Rook, what's 'lettuce'?"
Remee Halcyon	> Crime Scene Dog "Well, it worked! Nobody knew it was me." Everyone knew it was her. Crime Scene Dog only works because you do not argue with the full-sized wolf when it says it's supposed to be there. Still it's not a great response and she knows it. "... Anyway." Saying 'anyway' like that as a topic change is as good as waving the white flag of surrender. "I'm going to have to head home pretty soon, I think. I lost a bunch of equipment when I got..." punched into literal vapor. "... when the fight happened," she says. "And I don't have spares." > "Ms. Rook, what's 'lettuce'?" "Hang on - what?" says Remee, glancing over. "You don't know what lettuce is? The vegetable?"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley wrings out his towel again, and sets the flame lower on the grill, as Remee gives the first of many 'Okay Someone's Leaving' Noises. Ishirou's exit was a little more moody. "Hey, thanks for the invite, Remee, really, even if things got weird." Though as he moves to leave, he does take note of Seating Arrangements. Mental Notes. Hmmmm.
Remee Halcyon	"Oh no I mean like, not 'today' soon. Probably sometime this week. It's just..." "... I haven't been home for a few months?" she says. "And I sort of declared I was going off to join the Watch and take everyone at home down for being evil and..." She coughs. "Might get a little awkward."
Petra Soroka	Ishirou's shrinking exit leaves Petra looking after him, anger falling away into something forlorn. There's a twinge in her chest. I shouldn't have lashed out like that. She's never even talked to Ishirou directly, and now he's probably got a negative opinion of her. That thought makes something fall into place for her, combined with Rita's words. A bad face. "Ah... I'll give her another chance, at least. And," She winces, "I don't need any pain medication, but thanks, Rita." She smiles, clearly the thanks being for more than the offer of medicine. Rita leaves, to go sit by Lilian, and Petra hovers her gaze over the pair before suddenly flinching at a phrase Lilian says. What was that? Grilling? Or, she tries to covertly study Lilian, though maybe her staring is more obvious than she thinks. She's suddenly overly aware of how her body rests on the bench, curling inwards to hide herself more than the towel already is.
Rita Ma	"What kind of equipment, Ms. Remee? I remember seeing the rifle before, but not anything else," Rita says, while wiggling a little to get comfortable. "I might be able to help a little." Either she's forgotten how rich Remee is, or she just wants to help anyway! Her face tenses up and her eyes drop to the water, though, when she's interrogated. "Well, it's just... the place I grew up with doesn't have a lot of land. So there's nowhere for vegetables to grow. That's all. I didn't know." There's other reasons she might be a tiny bit defensive about not familiarizing herself with veggies, though.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley lights up at Remee. "Oh, I just fixed that by not having uh... anyone who'd care what I do. Other than you folks." Self-deprecation, hoy~
James Bond	Being absolutely intolerable, Bond can't resist the urge to pick at Lilian some more, and, by extension, Stanley. "I was just showing him what to do with his meat," he says. "It's not simple for everyone, you know. Some people need a little help." Satori's remark draws a dangerous glint in Bond's blue eyes, a spark of mischief. "And if I weren't? It seems like you've got your hands full just making sure your pets behave." >What's lettuce? She'd asked Lilian, but Bond is apparently in rare form. "About ninety-five percent water by volume," he insufferably quips.
Lilian Rook	'They've taken care of me almost as long as I have them, so it worked out.' The ghost of a knowing smile creeps up the corners of Lilian's lips. "It can be that way sometimes, can't it? I won't take it back just because they've said some kind words about me, but I'll say that I do genuinely admire that sort of absolute faith they have in you. That sort of puppy devotion doesn't come about from nowhere, and not towards someone who's never been there to show you the way when you've been lost. They're persistent and dedicated and they don't stumble or get discouraged easily. I think they're trying to be someone worthy of your confidence, if I'm being honest." 'Unless you're Hibiki, of course.' "Oh never you mind." Lilian says airily, splaying her arms back over the stony edge, crossing a leg over the other, and letting her feet float upwards a little bit. "Tachibana has learned the one that counts. The only reason she hung in there against Hiromi like that was for not wishing to repeat the mistake that lead to a lot of things that weren't . . . quite proportionate with her share of the blame. I'm not cruel, you--" She stops for a second. "Well, I'm not unfair. I only wish she'd improved enough to hang in there longer, really." Elbow against the side, Lilian upturns her hand and watches a ring of something that looks sort of like iron dust form over her palm out of thin air, rotating it around with some vague sense of fidgety interest. "Not to matter though." She twists her wrist, and the particulate contracts into a tight cable of perfectly smooth, glossy black semimetal, wound around her fingers. "I have some training in mind for her. Grow her up a little." 'Ms. Rook, what's--' Visible tension. 'lettuce'?' Lilian laughs. "It's a type of leaf vegetable. Do you know what cabbage is? It's similar, but sort of less substantial. Crunchier, lighter, a little bit sweeter, with more water. People use it as filler and to contrast dense and savoury foods like cheese and chicken or bacon." 'Well, it worked! Nobody knew it was me.' "Everyone knew. I nearly cringed out of my skin." Lilian pulls no punches with the Watch, it seems. "And don't be a stuck up bitch about what vegetables people eat." Well, except Rita, it seems. 'Sorry.' "You." Lilian says, more in Ishirou's direction than at him. She allows a thoughtful pause to exist in linear time. ". . . Weren't you saying something not long ago, about not wanting to fixate on strength? About wanting to find the sort of wisdom that could triumph over force?"
Remee Halcyon	> "What kind of equipment, Ms. Remee?" "Well - I have a spare rifle, but you know what they say, one spare is no spares. I use a custom one with more power since I can handle it, and special bullets for it..." "The rifle's the main thing, but I also lost my hunting kit, which had a bunch of stuff like holy water, halogen lamps, cold iron and sky steel bullets, inherited silver, little baggie with an unknown number of sand grains, ..." She counts on her fingers. "Just sort of - a whole lot of stuff you might need to deal with unusual things," she says. "And I should probably grab the unicorn horn from my room too, that'd come in handy."
Lilian Rook	'It's not simple for everyone, you know. Some people need a little help.' Lilian snorts, in that insufferably upper class British way (didn't he just call her Irish?). "Oh, you don't have to tell me. I'm barely half as old as you; memories of boys like that aren't quite so far behind me." she drones. "Good for him in finding someone willing to teach him, I suppose. I'm certain his school has failed him perfectly. Probably in favour of abstinence only pizza coupons, judging by the look of it." -though maybe her staring is more obvious than she thinks- With Rita snuggling in next to her, Lilian reaches up to pat her gently on the head and stroke her hair, and looks straight back at Petra. The way she tilts her head, the phantom smirk threatening to break out at any time, says that she knows something or other. She rolls her shoulders a little, quietly popping battle-fatigued joints and blatantly emphasizing her bare chest on purpose. "See something you like, Soroka?" she smugs.
Remee Halcyon	"Also I wasn't making fun, I was just curious. I'd never known of anyone who didn't know what lettuce was." > Rita headpats Remee is entirely not jealous. Don't be ridiculous. What a silly thought.
Stanley Padgett	Oh is it a duel then? Something quirks in Stanley's face, his stance shifting, and he stops following Remee. There's a look behind Stanley's eyes, something wild. "Oh, Mr. Bond, every man has business and desire, Such as it is." A huff, and then he turns to Remee. "O Helena, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!" He falls to his knees, and then plants his hand on his chest. "To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne? Crystal is muddy." He pounds the ground with his hand, casting up a splash of water, before he rises, and then looks into Remee's face.... "O, how ripe in show Thy lips, those kissing cherries, tempting grow!" And rather than complete the kiss to someone who isn't consenting, he simply pats her head as well. And then he steps back and looks to Bond. "I'm a theatre kid, Mr. Bond, my blood runs strange and hot and foul. Don't try me." And now HE is heading to the dressing room.
Hellwarming Trio	That doesn't go quite as well as Satori was expecting. Sensing/reading Ishirou's mood easily enough, she finally opts not to say anything further, although Rin and Utsuho both look over from their spots in the bath towards him. They're about to follow him, too, but stopped by Satori with a slow shake of her head. "Maybe later. Now isn't the right time." She explains to them quietly. They relent, but they do look somewhat skeptical about doing so. Instead, they're left to mull over what could be going on even with Satori's (lack of) elaboration, and then to stare at Remee when she mentions taking down EVIL back home. "Evil like... Bad evil?" Utsuho raises an eyebrow, almost looking thoughtful for the first time today. "Or just 'youkai' 'evil'?" Rin does the finger quotes with that. Satori, too, stares at Remee for a bit to listen for her response. Bond gets her attention again, though, when he calls out her warning with that mischievous look on his face. He gets what's easily the first LOOK from Satori today, as she doesn't really have a good response to that. She opens her mouth briefly before huffing indignantly, then turning away to munch on some of that lukewarm meat. Also, to turn back to Lilian with a less indignant look on her face. The compliments certainly help there. "Don't worry, I know full well that they're animals at heart. Their thoughts are very different from humans', and their hearts are more honest. Simple, but..." She pauses, staring at Lilian a little longer as she finally tries to do a bit of poking at her mind. "... Readable." Satori looks bewildered for a moment, then clears her throat and just tries continuing as if nothing's distracting her (several things are, including Utsuho and Rin snuggling up to her when they see Rita doing the same). "They already have my confidence, so I should be the one trying to be worthy of yours and theirs now that I'm here." She takes another moment to eat some of that meat with the samjang sauce, then makes a more confident declaration afterwards. "Not that it'll be hard. It's just a matter of time."
Petra Soroka	"See something you like, Soroka?" Petra's reaction would be less violent if Lilian had hit her. Her face flushes scarlet and she snaps to her feet like she's moments from actually sprinting away, which, of course, makes her stumble as pain shoots up her broken leg. "Ow! I wasn't--ow--I don't, what are you talking about?!" Petra glares at Lilian with a wildly disproportionate anger for the mild tease. The words fall out of her mouth before she has a chance to stop them. "I'm not like you!"
Remee Halcyon	> "O Helena, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!" Wait, what? Remee looks stunned. "Um," she says, but doesn't want to interrupt... whatever is going on. And then headpats. "What?" is all she says. She watches him leave, in silence. "What was... that?" she says, going to get back into the water, occasionally glancing back at the direction Stanley had gone.
Hiromi	'I only wish she'd improved enough to hang in there longer, really.' "She will," Hiromi suddenly says, after appearing to not have been listening for minutes.
James Bond	"The more things change, the more they stay the same," Bond nods with Lilian. "They expelled me from Eton for--" Stanley's display is as theatric as it is loud. "I'll take that under advisement, Mr. Padgett," he says, his tone and smirk indicating that he certainly will try Stanley again in the future. He steps out of the spring, running a hand through his hair before kneeling to collect his towel and that compact pistol he's fond of. Bond disappears into the dressing room. A few minutes later, the black Aston's V8 is rumbling to life, carrying him to some other place for some unknown assignment or obligation. Not without a purposefully unguarded thought used to take a parting shot at Satori, however.
Lilian Rook	'... Readable.' Lilian replies with a distracted air. "Sorry, but I came out of the box that way. And even if I could turn it off, I wouldn't. Your cute little pets already told me plenty about you, so don't you go worrying about impressions at this late stage." She grins. "I applaud your restraint for waiting that long, however." 'I'm a theatre kid, Mr. Bond' Lilian holds a hand over her mouth to mask her stifled giggling. "We could tell." 'Ow! I wasn't--ow--I don't, what are you talking about?!' "Oh, I wonder~" Lilian titters. "I was asking you, after all! I couldn't tell whether you were so taken in by a burning desire for a headpat, an interest in rope, or--" Her emphasis switches instantly, just to rub it in harder. "My body, you absolute virgin. Christ, you're really as awkward as they come for an alleged Elite, aren't you." 'I'm not like you!' The bottom drops out of Lilian's voice. That teasing smugness vapourizes on contact. Disappears as if it were never there. When her lips drop back down and the mean-spirited sparkle dies out from her eyes, the narrow scar across the bridge of her nose and under her left eye suddenly seems to stand out a great deal more. "You aren't." she says. Lukewarm. Distantly hollow. Almost chilling. "Because you don't mind this world, do you? Your preoccupation is on proving that you're worthy of it. Trying to find your place in it. You aren't used to being told no. You aren't used to fighting. You haven't begun to grasp that there are some things it just won't give to you, no matter how much you think you've done to earn it." "You're far too normal to be anything like me, Soroka. And if you want to be liked; if you want to be happy; if you want to be given what you've earned, then you won't try to be like me."
Petra Soroka	Petra draws back from Lilian, shock and something adjacent to horror spreading across her face. Her mouth hangs open, and the seconds that pass before she's able to choke out any words are agonizing. Fuck you. Why does she find it so much easier to respond? To talk to me like that? Why does everything she says get to sound right?"Just because," her voice quavers, and she swallows, "just because you already know how to fight, and how to struggle, doesn't mean I can't. You're not better than me just because you're," She coughs, and her throat is so tight that it sounds like a wheeze, "just because you're already fucking broken." She looks at Rita, sitting next to Lilian, and tears start falling down her cheeks. Her voice is pleading. "You're the way you are because no one fucking liked you, anyways." Pleading with Lilian, and herself too. "I know what you are. You're an outcast. A freak. People respect your experience, but that's really all you have. And you're just lording it over everyone." She steps backwards, staggering towards the exit. "I wouldn't want to be like you." Petra looks at everyone else, opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. She turns, and runs.
Lilian Rook	'You're not better than me just because you're--' "I am better than you, Soroka. You and everyone else like you." "And I got tired of pretending that I'm not." Her arm drops across Rita's shoulder. It looks casual but her fingers squeeze a little too hard. "So rationalize it however you want. I really don't care. Because whether you like it or not . . ." "You'll wither away without my respect. But I couldn't give a shit about yours."