(Untitled)

[swatwithdragons]

WHO: Lance Blackthorn, OPEN
WHAT: Being Zen is a good feeling.
WHERE: Joukiryu hotsprings.
WHEN: Saturday 6 August to Saturday 13 August, 2011.
NOTES: If you’d rather have your character come in earlier than this week, just let me know, since Lance’s perspective will be slightly different. Also, there have been network posts regarding the onsen, so

Comments

[ghostlighter]

Only a day after he had arrived, and Chris was once again out on the city to get a lay of the land. It was one of the easier ways to distract himself from Wyatt's presence in the city and what that all implied. This time, instead of keeping low to the ground and asking anybody who would stop what had happened, he took his ghost form and went flying. Early Saturday morning (never mind that it should have been Tuesday) saw him going over the forest. The hot springs were quite easy to see from the air, and he descended near one of the outdoor baths.

He didn't see anyone around (fortunately for him, it was before proper business hours), so he simply stepped closer to the edge and peered into the water without worrying about hiding himself. Although the sensation wasn't quite the same as a ghost, he could notice the heat rising from the water onto his face. Some kind of natural hot spring, then, or a really gaudy jacuzzi.

"Huh," he murmured. Fancy, but there really didn't seem to be anything more than a novelty in a city full of useless

[swatwithdragons]

Mornings were when Dragonair had his recuperation time being pocketed, away from the city's pollution. Out in the onsen it wasn't as bad, but it still had an effect. So that meant that Lance was alone, for the moment; he'd just finished cleaning the amenities used by some of the nightcrawlers.

He still had a couple of damp towels over his shoulder and a brush in his hand as he wandered back up the path beside the outside bathing areas. He'd been in the city too long to blink at the sight of a man standing at the edge of one, despite not having heard anyone come up the path. "May I help you?"

[ghostlighter]

Chris had heard the rustle of the ground only peripherally; it was the sudden voice that startled and prompted him to whirl around to face the man who had spoken. The quick movement proved to be his downfall as his footing dissolved on the wet, uneven rock.

He gave a flail and a quick, "Geez-!" before he slipped completely and splashed into the spring.

[swatwithdragons]

Lance wasn't exactly being quiet, but true, his shoes were soft. He hadn't worn boots in a few weeks. His eyebrow lifted at the flashing glimpse of the man's red eyes, but then said man had vanished below the surface of the water. "Oops."

He knew the edges of the baths much better than the occasional visitor, so when he went to the edge he stepped lightly and firmly. "Need some help in there?"

[ghostlighter]

When Chris resurfaced with a cough and splutter, it was as a human; his concentration had been shattered when the steaming water enveloped him. Soaked hair could easily be an excuse for blond warping into brown, but those eyes were most definitely not red anymore. He turned a sour look up to Lance, then stuck an arm out in silent acceptance of the offer. It was all Chris could do to hope that this stranger hadn't gotten a good look at him before he'd called out.

[swatwithdragons]

Lance took the man's arm, braced his foot against a sturdy rock and hauled him smoothly out of the spring with little apparent trouble. He hadn't been training, exactly, but that didn't mean he'd stopped his exercising, and he was better rested than he'd been in months.

He made sure the man was steady on his feet before stepping back. "Changing rooms are this way; we've got some yukata to spare until your clothes dry." He gave the man a sidelong look, a faintly mischievous quirk at the corner of his mouth. "Most people undress before they decide to bathe, you see."

[ghostlighter]

Chris gave him an unamused look, one that read used to being teased. "Wouldn't have gone in if someone hadn't decided to sneak up on me. What's a yukata?" he asked. He pulled his jacket off to wring it out, the water-weight making it uncomfortable to leave on as it was.

[swatwithdragons]

"I was walking," Lance corrected with a faint but genuine smile. "And this is." He plucked at the front of his, brown and plainly patterned with sunbursts. It looked rather like a bathrobe, really, just with a wider fabric belt.

He stepped back onto the path to give Chris the room to follow, indicating for the man to follow. He didn't ask his name; some people came here for the anonymity. Like him.

[ghostlighter]

Chris watched the man move away, then followed after a few steps behind. "So it's like Japanese for 'bathrobe'," Chris surmised. If he had more practice with his new powers, being wet wouldn't have been such a problem, but as it was, he would have too much trouble trying to excuse himself and fly away while sopping wet.

Just as Lance didn't ask for it, Chris didn't offer his name. He only intended to be here as long as it took for him to dry off enough and he wasn't around to make pleasantries. "Is this like a tourist attraction or something?"

[swatwithdragons]

"Only if you make a habit of attending festivals or spending summer days in public in your bathrobe." Though it wasn't far off, really. It did mean 'bathing clothes' in modern Japanese. It just had broader functions.

"No," Lance said simply, leading Chris toward the changing room. "We don't get many tourists in this city. Mostly it's a place to escape it for a little while."

[ghostlighter]

"Please tell me you mean costume festivals." It was more of a joke than a serious statement, but it spoke of what he thought of the attire as actual clothing. Why in the world would anyone want to actually go out in that?

Chris walked behind and to the side of Lance, jacket now draped over his shoulder. "Must not be too popular," he observed, noting the lack of patrons as they moved along.

[swatwithdragons]

"Not in the least." His tone was even, uninsulted. "They're comfortable." And that was the truth. They were more comfortable than a formal kimono, that was for sure, and relatively easy to put on to boot. Sure, he wouldn't go fighting in one, but he could do that too if he needed to.

"Most people in the city are interested in debauchery and extortion, not peace and tranquility," Lance admitted. "And those that aren't tend to think themselves too busy to be relaxing." He glanced over with another faint smile. "Besides, if there were a lot of people here it wouldn't be peaceful, would it?"

[ghostlighter]

"Look a little airy to me," Chris replied skeptically. The more he considered it, the more he realized that he likely wouldn't have tried wearing a yukata if it were under any other circumstance. He'd leave the ridiculous costume changes to his mom and aunts, thanks.

Halfway through, Lance earned himself an exasperated (fond?) smirk from Chris. That almost sounded like his family. "Okay, point. Seems... nice, though." He might even end up pointing Wyatt toward this place if he needed his brother off his back for a while. "Water's definitely hot enough."

[swatwithdragons]

"They're not see-through," Lance pointed out. "Although I suppose it depends on how secure you are with not wearing pants." The redhead's smile took the faint cast of a smirk. "It is a natural hotspring. But yes, it is nice."

They reached the veranda and Lance stepped up onto it, then toed off his shoes and left them by the side of the door as he entered. "Shoes off, please. I'm the one who has to sweep inside."

[ghostlighter]

Chris, once again, didn't seem to share the same amusement as Lance. He rolled his eyes a little. "That thing doesn't have pants under there?" That was... great. Why was he doing this again? Oh, right - he really needed to work on just keeping a grasp on his ghost form. He could manage it through getting attacked, most times, but other types of stimuli remained unfamiliar and made it easy to shock him back. As it was, he couldn't just disappear and flee without raising some major suspicion.

At the threshold, Chris paused, opened his mouth as if to try protesting, then closed it after a moment. No, he was soaked enough that it made some amount of sense. He couldn't help the rest of him, but the shoes were something he could do. "Right, sure," he said quietly, lifting his feet rather than bending down to slip them off. He kept a hold of them as he followed Lance in, brows raised as if to ask where next?

[swatwithdragons]

"Whyever would I wear pants under attire that's already full length?" Lance asked, still faintly amused. He remembered his conversation with Conrad regarding good and bad clothes. Amazing, how much Western men seemed to care about clothes no one was going to ever see or which didn't include pants.

"You can leave them outside, please," the redhead said with a glance over his shoulder. At least they wouldn't drip. There was a shallow closet against the wall of the changing-room; he pulled it open and indicated it. "These ones are all available for temporary use. If you give me your clothes I can get them dried more quickly."