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⌛ Who: Navigator & you!! Also maybe I'll post some Jean prompts here later.
⌛ What: Catch-all for November & maybe also December, wow.
⌛ When: November and beyond.
⌛ Where: Hokone, either of the two major cities.
⌛ Warnings: Probably Horny Stuff that's also stupid.

pirate ninjas tho
[He's not a fighter. Never has been, never will be - it's just not something that comes naturally to Caelestites, and even if he wasn't raised in Eraveil, even if he'd never spoken to another Caelestite before meeting Schummer and Mendelson, it's still not something that comes naturally to him. (And if choosing to fight means he'll end up like Schummer... Yeah, no. Not really something he aspires to.) He's not exactly a pacifist by any means, it's just that he's not liable to be the one throwing any punches. He can't use Luminatics, he's physically weak, it just wouldn't end well for anyone but especially for him.

So when he turns to look down the line of cable cars - which are actually quite novel to someone used to airship travel - and sees people running along them and he feels their intent, he starts looking around for someone to hide behind. Which probably wouldn't be too hard seeing as he maybe stands at all of five feet, chances are anyone in this car with him is at least a little bit taller. Hopefully they can fight too, or else this is going to be a really sticky situation.]

I'm sorry!

[Is he saying that to you or the ninjas...]

I can't do anything to help, but I'm supporting you!

[Yeah, no, it was to you.]

enchanted bathwater
[Navi is currently in the middle of a staring contest with a monkey.

The hot springs weren't his first stop in the resort, but he did end up there eventually. He had looked at the benefits of the springs before stepping into them, which had just made him even more curious about them. So off he went, deciding on seeing what the monkey spring was all about (spoilers: it's monkeys), but now he was staring down a monkey that was inching closer and closer to the one thing that would protect his dignity once he gets out of the water.]

Don't...

[The monkey snatches the towel, and there's quite a huge splash for someone so small as Navi flails and then tries to launch himself out of the spring.]

H-hey! Get back here with that!

[He never learned the lesson of "don't run near the pool" and he's never had very good luck, and he slips on the wet ground. He's either going to hit the ground or be caught by someone taking pity on him, but either way he just wants the earth to reclaim him.]

enchanted bathwater... 2! (i'll roll with anything for the kizuna side effects, just lmk!)
[Maybe he should stick to springs that don't have thieves in them. Just give them one last chance - and hopefully something called a spring of rejuvenation doesn't have any funny business going on. If this ends poorly, he'll just call this whole trip to Hokone a wash and he'll head back and never return. Of course, knowing his luck he'd end up getting dragged back anyways, but at least then he'll know better than to trust the magic water.

So far this spring seems much better. The water is warm and the atmosphere is relaxing, and for the first time in a long time he feels at peace. It's incredibly pleasant, and he's not even sure how long he stays there. Maybe he can just stay here forever... But then Soroz would probably get lonely, and that would just be mean, so he scraps that idea soon. Still doesn't make him want to pull himself from the water, though. He wants to enjoy his first real moment of relaxation since he first started trying to restart Soroz, but maybe somebody else should be as relaxed as he is? He shouldn't be the only person here who feels content and happy, so don't mind him just scooting closer down the spring until he's at your side.]

Are you doing well? The water's not too warm for you, right? Are you comfortable? Do you need anything?

[He opens his mouth to ask even more questions, before realizing he should probably let this poor soul answer these first.]

wildcard + note;
[Feel free to run into Navigator-kun anywhere in Kanto or Kansai! He has an airship and a willingness to explore and experience new things. Also, he is psychic, which largely manifests as telepathy and empathy. This is something he has to focus on to do in anything beyond base level feelings/intent, so just let me know if you want to play with this or not! ♥]

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[perhaps he's actually the most lucky this time, outside of, you know, slipping and falling in a hot spring. after all, he'll be treated to a swift rescue from someone and even more peculiarly? his towel fluttering over his hips???

even the monkey looks confused by this, actually, and Navi will find himself looking up at fluffy purple hair and dark skin and eyes, a cocky lopsided grin on his face.]

Well, I can safely say I didn't expect my first rescue in this place to be like this. Didn't you know floors are slippery when they're wet?

[maybe he sounds a little smug, but... well, he's become like that. under the circumstances, it's pretty much all he has left.

in any case, he's quick to put his new friend down, remarkably gentle for a guy built like a fighter and tall to boot, facts that are... very much on display with just a towel around his hips.]

[By now Navi's used to being around men who are taller and broader than he could ever hope to be. Aurorians come in all shapes and sizes but he's still dwarfed by quite a few of them.

Still, he's never seen any of them without pants, and most of them wore shirts. Sometimes they were very tight shirts and sometimes they barely counted as shirts (not to name names or anything), so he's still not quite used to seeing anyone else quite as naked as this.

He at least has the grace not to stare.

For now.]

S-sorry. I wasn't trying to fall!

[And then the rest of what he said catches up to him, and his brows furrow.]

Your first rescue? What does that even mean?

[Vael wouldn't really mind that much if he stared, even if his preference usually doesn't lie in... well, anyone, actually.]

I should hope you weren't. The damsel in distress act doesn't work on very many people.

[this kid's pretty easy to rile, though he doesn't think it's quite as fun as Euntae, probably.

... and really, maybe he should be a little low-key.]

It means what it says. You're officially the first person I've had to rescue from some kind of peril.

Does that bother you? I'd say it's better than giving yourself a concussion, at least.

[... or he could just be Vael. he doesn't know the meaning of low-key at this point.]

[Give him a moment as he splutters.]

I'm not in distress!

[Which is probably the least convincing thing he could be saying right now.

He huffs, wrapping his towel around himself and shaking his head.]

It just sounds kind of weird - expecting that you're going to be saving people. Are you some kind of soldier or something?

[Something about him doesn't strike him as one, but he also doesn't seem nearly as eccentric as most of the people who had been on board Soroz so he's not quite sure where to place him.]

[Sorry, sorry, he's... he's definitely laughing. It's a rich sound, one that he's internally a little surprised by given his circumstances.]

I see. I'll let you hit the ground and lose your towel next time.

[freed from his "responsibilities" of apparently protecting people in a pool, vael takes a moment to consider the navigator and his words. It occurs to him that he's probably not that young (he's definitely short, even by Korean standards, but that doesn't mean anything either) and he... doesn't really smell like a human. Or a vampire, he thinks. Hmm.]

It's not really an expectation - it just happens with me.

[for better or worse.]

A soldier? No, not at all. I'm just a magician. Just don't ask for a show until I'm dressed, okay?

[He's cheeky, yes, but there's something... warm and honest to it. Speaking of honesty...]

... this is going to sound weird, but what are you? You don't... smell like a human.

[At least it's relatively innocuous, and little does he know, the other man is used to much, much wider eccentrics than he. That he phrases it that way honestly probably troubles vael more than the navigator.]

[He doesn't know how to dig himself out of the hole he's found himself in - which is par for the course, really. This is just kind of the life he's been saddled with.]

What, is it some kind of curse?

[The way he says it makes it clear that he doesn't believe it could be anything like that. It makes him think of Fleur, though, about the Aurorian's outrageous popularity he claims is a curse even if the Navigator knows it's just because of the Aurorian's helpful and cheerful nature.

But if Vael believes it's a curse just like Fleur does...]

I have no idea what a magician is or why I'd want to watch you put on a show.

[It's incredibly blunt, just like what follows.]

I'm a caelestite.

[As if Vael knows what a caelestite is...]

[lucky for them both, vael does tend to take to people with a strong personality well.]

Oh, yes. [The sarcasm is painfully thick. Vael is absolutely just laying it on, heavy sighs and all.] It's the price I get for being handsome and well-built, you see?

[It's by some miracle that he bites off continuing to speak. He does have something of a curse, after all...]

A magician performs tricks. Magic, it's-- you really don't have anything like that? It's simple entertainment.

[He actually seems a little at a loss there. It's such a well-known thing where he's from... and then there's the explanation of what he is. An explanation that means nothing to him, of course.]

... a... caelestite? That sounds like something you'd find on a cave ceiling or something.

[Against his better wishes, the mention of Vael's physiques gets his eyes darting down, and. Yeah. Well built. That seems a bit of an understatement, really.]

Yeah, sure.

[His lips purse together. There wasn't much in the way of entertainment on the Colossus, at least not while he was growing up. Most of the information to him was more educational in nature, or it was music. Most of which he ended up just playing himself while on the bridge, hoping that this one time Soroz would be restarted.

Then he got out of the underground and met people like Charon who claimed to be artists and performers, and he had his eyes opened against his will to everything that had been made over those seventeen years.

Anyways, none of that had been called magic.]

No. Nobody does magic for tricks or entertainment.

[...He wasn't expecting to have to explain what a caelestite is, even though in retrospect it makes sense nobody else would know.]

Caelestites are one of the races where I'm from - we've got psychic abilities and we had some pretty advanced tech, but... I can't really say much else. I'm the last one left and I didn't grow up in Eraveil.

[...]

Did spend most of my life underground so I... guess that's not too far away from being in a cave.

[Oh, he wasn't really expecting the guy to look him over like that, actually. It doesn't bother him, but it's a reminder that most people don't rile as easily as that detective...

When he speaks, it's in response to the lack of magicians wherever he's from.]

Hmm. That's too bad... it's a skill that takes a lot of effort to learn, and it's good at putting aside all the horrors of the world for a little bit of wonder and happiness.

[Despite his own situation being as shitty as it was, sleight of hand and magic still hold a place of comfort in his heart, and it shows. And then he's listening to this kid explain what a caelestite is, which makes no sense if he's thinking in terms of his world, but... they share a surprising number of traits as certain vampires.

Eraveil must be what they call his world, vael decides, and-- abruptly kind of feels like an asshole. This kid...]

... I wasn't trying to be an asshole. [most of that bravado melts away, at least for a moment. He knows what that's like...] It's that it's literally a word we have that sounds like that. Anyway, sounds like you've had quite the life. More of us out there than I like to think about, I guess.

["us," he says, and explains nothing more.]

Sounds like the kind of thing we need back home.

[It’s hopefully more tolerable then metal music… It would be hard to be worse, at least, so he has that going for him.

But something to alleviate the darkness in the world… They could use every bit they could get, he thinks. It’s not just Eraveil that was threatened by the Eclipsite’s, the caelestites just couldn’t fight back.

He shrugs.]

It’s fine. Not like you had any way of knowing any of that, so I don’t think that makes you an asshole.

[And if he thinks he can just drop “us” without getting any questions, he’s got another thing coming.]

“Us”? What exactly do you mean by “more of us”? You don’t feel like anything I’ve seen before.

[Not an aurorian, not a caelestite, but he can’t sense anything that feels comparable to dark flow, either…]

It was enough to inspire me, at least.

[that much, he says with plain contentment, a little moment of relaxation in his life of just... everything he's done. and the Navigator's fine enough to talk to, calm and remarkably warm-hearted, he thinks. maybe.]

Well, I'm glad for that much. You did seem like you had a brain, panic aside.

[ah. doesn't... feel like. Vael pauses, running his fingers over his forehead. what a rookie mistake... but then, this isn't home. he's not heard a single moment of Vampire Panic, so maybe...]

That's-- I meant orphans. But I'm a vampire, now. You... don't have those either?

[the now is significant, of course, as is the hesitance with which he says it. he even looks a little uncomfortable with having said it quite so easily. it's also notable that his eyes are currently very much red and very much slitted.]

[He's... mostly sure he's not being insulted. It's kind of hard to tell, with some of the people who he's been sharing space with lately.

Not to name names.

(Zoya.)]

Oh.

[There's plenty of orphans - he's met Aurorians who lost their parents, so it's not even something unique to him, but it had never occurred to him that would be something worth noting.]

If there are vampires, I've never met one or heard of them... What are they like?

[And why does it sound like something Charon would like?]

It's... a complicated answer.

[Vael's sigh is heavy, his stomach turning at the sudden stirring of a memory. in preparation for the tale, the taller man gestures for the navigator to sit, or at least to follow while he settles on the edge of the pool. this is a story he shouldn't tell, but... honestly, what's the harm here? at worst, he rails back in fear, Vael thinks, and there are worse things out there.]

There are pureblood vampires, but they're... rare. Extremely rare, in fact - I've only ever met one. The rest of us were just humans. Just... normal people, trying to live our lives. Then someone comes along, and for money or power or hatred, they turn us into this.

[did it always bother him so much? thinking on it, he's forced to accept that maybe it did. then again...]

... that's unhelpful, sorry. To explain it more concretely, vampires are exceptionally powerful creatures. We can move faster, hear better, sometimes do things no normal person can - igniting things from nothing, appearing as someone else, and flying, as a few examples - but with some... limitations and detriments.

[He follows Vael's lead, sitting down on the edge of the pool and keeping a respectful distance between them.

The explanation Vael gives him... Some of it doesn't sound all that strange, really. He's met plenty of Aurorians who could do incredible things with Luminatics, but he thinks the important bit is the turning, more than the powers. Making a person be something more, something different, than what their species is.

It reminds him of Schummer, sneering that she was no longer weak, that she was no longer a Caelestite, and the obvious signs of how she had become twisted and sided with the eclipsite. To force a transformation like that onto somebody else... would take an incredible sort of monster.]

...I'm sorry that happened to you. That sounds terrible.

[And he means it, truly, looking up at Vael.]

You don't have to tell me anything more, if you don't want to. I think I get it.

[He doesn't even know about the blood thing..........]

[when Vael laughs, it's a mirthless sound. one shoulder rises in an easy shrug, and he gives what would be a cocky smile, under normal circumstances. here, it's more... tired at the edges, worn in a way that suggests the harrowing burden of time in fast-forward.]

I don't mind. It was fairly par for the course anyway, in my case. It's how people tended to be.

[leaning forward, he laces his hands together, offering a crooked little smile. none of this is something he would say normally... but of course, the secondary effect of the monkey baths isn't really posted, is it?]

The restrictions are fairly simple. We can't eat solid food, only drink liquids - and our actual sustenance comes from... ah. Blood. That, and most vampires only have five years to live after being turned.

[he says it so simply, like it's not a heartrending fact. for him, after all, it's just... how it is. the timeline doesn't apply to him anyway.]

[A diet of only blood... The thought makes his stomach churn, and he absolutely does not want to know how Vael acquires that blood. He doesn't seem particularly violent or cruel so it's hard to imagine him hurting anything for blood...

But can you really get blood without causing something pain?]

...

[And with such a short lifespan, too... It's probably not something Vael wants to think about, but he can't stop himself from blurting out the first thing that comes to mind.]

How long have you been a vampire?

[it's a fact of life for Vael, really - and if he asked, the Navigator would at least learn that there were vampires who subsisted only on ethically sourced animal blood. he... isn't one of them, but that's not the point.]

Ah... it's been a few years now. [his smile is wan, but playful.] Are you worried? It's fine, I'm not like most vampires. Even without the timeloops, I should have been able to see better than fifty more years, as long as I kept my head down.

[as long as he'd followed his orders, instead of his heart. it's an aching feeling, as he turns his gaze outward and to the rest of the water. he'd even almost killed Daniel - may as well have even now, deciding to oppose his benefactor as he had.]

But that's rather dreary conversation, no? Come, let's find another one. [clapping his hands together, he nods mildly.] What do you do to while away your hours, my friend?

That doesn't seem any better. Living a longer life but only if you, what, didn't do anything?

[It seems like an insurmountable task - keeping your head down, being obedient, anything like that. The navigator is not someone who would ever be okay with accepting things as they were and taking things lying down or doing what others told them. It's bad enough when Illumina tries to tell him what to do when they have no authority over him, and it's just as bad when it's Lumopolis, too.

He's spent his entire life trying to do something, and he's always been far too stubborn to take orders.

Still, he can accept the change in topic, even as it bothers him.]

Before coming here? I would train and help manage things on the colossus I lived on, or I would play music and go through all the databases... But things got pretty busy back home so I didn't always have a lot of free time.

It's not like that. [Vael's gaze isn't on the caelestite then, staring into the water as his mind provides requisite pain, plentiful in the before as it is after.] really, it's not any different from living normally. You're useful, or you're disposed of, and that's if you're lucky. Even if I've found little ways to do what I think is right, I know it'll bite me eventually.

[No... it already has. But he doesn't see a reason to clarify, especially when the other's answering his question. The dark feelings surrounding him don't dissipate fully - they may never, truthfully, but he does a decent job at pretending otherwise - even as he quirkshis lips.]

A colossus, huh? I have an idea what that means, but I also have a feeling it's a little different... it sounds like something out of a fantasy novel, truthfully. And then training and playing music? Those seem pretty wildly unrelated on first hearing them.

[If he had the feeling arguing that that doesn't sound anything like living normally would improve Vael's mood he would argue, and he desperately wants to...

But he feels that darkness life just a bit, and that seems more important than dying on that hill.]

A colossus is a kind of ship Caelestites had, and they're controlled by a piano, so I kind of had to learn. Eventually I would get good enough where I could just play for the sake of playing music, though.

[There wasn't a whole lot else he could do that he hadn't done a thousand times before, really, so music was a decent distraction from his loneliness.]

The training is more recent, because I need to get up to snuff if I want to be as helpful as I can be. It kind of sucks, honestly.

[Or he's still just baby weak. Or both!]

[a ship controlled by a piano. even with the sense of obligation, it would be an enjoyable pursuit, he thinks.]

Mayhap you'll have to show me sometime, then.

[there's a laugh as he leans forward, nodding in turn with the explanation.]

Training's quite a mess, sometimes. So long as you don't overdo it though, I think it'll work out alright. Any weaknesses can be turned into strengths if you're careful no matter your size, no?

[he can't help it, really. the guy's so tiny that if Vael wasn't fully aware of how rarely strength lay in size, he might be worried.

it also might be a little bit of poking fun at him, gently enough to not sting but plainly enough to test the guy's reaction.]

Sure, though it'll have to wait until we're out of here.

["Here" meaning the resort as a whole, not the hot springs. Soroz can't make it through all of the horrid steam surrounding this place, and the Navigator wouldn't want him to try risking it anyways.

Also? Rude? He splutters before scowling at Vael, crossing his arms over his chest. He knows he's not the tallest - and it became even more painfully apparent the more Aurorians he met - but still!]

I don't think any weaknesses I have are because of my size.

[It was bad enough when Barton called him tiny, and now this?]

I'd imagine so. Kinda hard to find a piano around here.

[Oh, but he reacts nicely to that, doesn't he? Vael exhales a hum, making a show of looking him over. The tilt of his lips still gives it away as friendly, his scrutiny not nearly as serious as it otherwise looks.]

Hmm. I dunno, you don't look like you could lift all that much. [There's no actual criticism to it, and the man seems almost boyishly pleased to be... poking fun at him. Oh boy. It would be less silly if he wasn't sitting there with his own arms crossed and his form on display.] or did you think I meant your height? You're a little shorter than the average Korean, but I've been tossed around by women about your size.

[Which... he says with some fondness, actually. But back to the teasing(?) at hand-!]

A little muscle on you wouldn't hurt matters, I think. Unless you just like the twink look - I'm not judging.

[... yeah, both of those actually sound true. Vael's not had much of an interest in guys, but it's never stopped him from looking.]

[Not that he's looked, really.

He flushes at the scrutiny, even though he knows the man is teasing. He can feel it well enough, a stark difference from the shadow over him when talking about vampirism, but that just makes it more embarrassing.

It's different from Barton calling him tiny or being called weak, even if he can't quite place why. Probably because he's currently naked, and doesn't have his layers to hide under.]

I can lift enough.

[Having the Fireflies carry things for him counts...!]

And I don't think I need more muscles - I'm fine as I am!

[M... Mostly...]

Can you? That's good.

[vael laughs at the comment about muscles, soft and light. He's in a little bit better a mood now, at least.

The kid isn't as much fun to tease as Euntae, but that's probably better, really.]

You're right. I think you're just fine how you are. Try not to take me too seriously when I'm being mean, yes? I can't help myself, you have a cute mad face.

[There’s something about Vael and this teasing that’s familiar, but not quite the same as any of the Aurorians he knows. Familiar but different, and he’s not sure about all of this.

It’s different when one of them calls him cute - most of them want to study him so it hits differently - but this?

Good lord.]

I don’t think anyone is cute when they’re mad, or why you’d enjoy that.

[He squints at him warily.]

Why are you enjoying it, actually?

[Vael can't help but exhale a laugh at that, shaking his head.]

No? I'm not really one for people, usually, but when it's just a little indignant... [He shrugs.] Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment.

[and then he's being asked why he enjoys it, and the vampire pauses. It's a strange question, isn't it?]

I guess it feels familiar. You get such a determined face when you're a little angry, did you know that? A... brief coworker of mine is like that too. I guess I can't help it, either. It's my first instinct to get under people's skin. Maybe to keep them from trying to see beneath mine.

[... why did he say it like that? Vael doesn't show his awkwardness on his face, but the caelestite might feel it anyway. For all his confidence, the vampire actually doesn't appear to have much experience in this sort of conversation.]

[Kleken hasn't been in Nippon very long and already it's proven to be rather interesting, so much better than anything that white island can offer, even if he's met with similar luxury. It wasn't the luxury that made that place feel so empty, it was the people. The resort trip was a rather nice surprise and brings back memories of summer.

The 'deep sea monster' seems comfortable in the hot bath, sprawled out in a corner with his head tipped back, eyes closed. Maybe a little too comfortable? Pink colors across his cheeks and ears, and the tentacles wriggling from beneath the coat— yes, he's wearing a coat in the water —seem sort of sluggish.

Is he unconscious?

Oh. Yeah. He is.]

[A lot of things happen in succession, in his mind. First there's the shock of seeing tentacles and a man in a coat in the hot springs, followed by the even greater shock that he knows that man, and finished with concern because he sure does seem to be unconscious. Did he overheat? He knows the aurorian doesn't handle the heat well, and the springs are pretty warm... Plus he's still wearing a coat, which seems utterly ridiculous, but Kleken is a bit of an odd duck. Octopus. Deep sea monster.

For a brief moment, he wonders if he's being tricked again, but surely Kleken wouldn't do that this time. Right? What does he gain from faking being passed out in a spring?]

Kleken!

[The best course of action would be to wake him up, right? So he decides to go with shaking him, though he's sure what he could escalate to if shaking doesn't work. It's what woke him up when he was alone on the colossus, sometimes, the fireflies bullying him awake, so it seems like the most tried and true method.]

[A hot bath is rather relaxing, isn’t it? Enough to lull anyone to a peaceful rest, dreaming of the deep sea and the monsters that lurk below. The sound of the water lapping against the side of the bath could almost be mistaken for the gentle splash of waves against a dock.

Distantly, he thinks he hears a voice calling for him.

He definitely feels the shaking. Kleken’s waking is almost languid, his eyes open and that ever present smile spreads across his pale lips as he looks into the Navigator’s worried face. His hands raise from beneath the water, tips of his bony fingers touching the blonde’s cheeks.]

Brave sailor, were you worried about me?

[That deep flush is still there. The aurorian looks pretty sluggish, though the tentacles immediately welcome the navigator by graciously wrapping around his legs.]

[There's no hiding the relief the Navigator feels, even if Kleken still looks terrible. He's awake and responsive which is - a start.]

You passed out!

[Of course he was worried! Despite everything Kleken is, he still cares about him, and it wouldn't sit right with him if someone was, like, dying in the hot springs regardless of who they are.

He huffs, frowning at the tentacles wrapping around him. It... feels weird, the suckers on his bare skin, but he can't find it in himself to wriggle out of their grasp or pull them off.

There's a pause, as his irritation for how flippant Kleken seems fades, and he rests the back of his hand against the aurorian's forehead. It doesn't really tell him much at all, as the hot springs and himself are so warm it wouldn't really tell him if the pale man is feverish or not, but he seems out of sorts still so he must be.

He should learn more about medicine. A thought for later, when they're not sitting in a pool of water.]

...Are you feeling okay? We should probably get you out of here.

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monkey water..........

rip

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Enchanted Bathwater 2 | but you know semi-wildcard

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