middleofsomewhere | Event: Healing Waters

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Event: Healing Waters

"Good morning passengers, it is day twenty three of the month of Grasshopper. All passengers of the Voidtrecker Express require rest. Next stop Jema’grethy Island. All passengers prepare to disembark."

It is a very strange morning message that rings through the train on the morning of day twenty three but as the passengers of the Voidtrecker Express wake their screens glow with the colour of the void and a holographic screen pops up for them to read.

World #2554098133741: A world once inhabited by an ancient civilisation and now preserved as a historical site, nature reserve and well-being retreat. It is famous for its relaxing hot springs, calming atmosphere and beautiful beaches.

It is a popular void-traveller destination, particularly among void missionaries as a place to rest and recuperate after difficult missions.

The Voidtrecker Express will spend three days here, arriving today and leaving on day twenty six of the month of Grasshopper. The dressing carriage is open for your convenience.

It is time for a holiday it seems!

Preparation

For those who go to explore the dressing carriage they will find a variety of beachwear and wetsuits. One cupboard has a pile of tents and groundsheets in all four team colours.

One cabinet is exclusively filled with beach towels, in a kaleidoscope of colours, designs and patterns. Another is filled with different shapes and sizes of plain towel dressing gowns. There is even a cabinet with buckets, spades and small rock-pooling nets.

It seems they are in for quite an adventure.

Arrival

"Shortly arriving on World #2554098133741. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train lurches and rattles as it leaves the void they will get a glimpse of silver-purple sky and a beautiful ocean below.

However some passengers might be a little more than distracted, one staring at that table for a second too long, another seeming lost in thought for a couple of seconds, a longer than normal pause in a sentence. They see a vision, a glimpse of a life that is not their own. Not all at once, but here and there as the train descends to the island.

But then it is gone and things are back to normal. Just in time, as they come to land.

Jema’grethy Island

The train has landed on a grassy ridge, overlooking a beautiful beach of white sand and the ocean beyond. It is warm, but not too hot, a cool ocean breeze cutting through the heat making it pleasant. Behind them is a grassy plain, changing to forest in the distance. There is the sound of birdsong in the purple sky. To the west the land is more craggy, the silhouette of a fortress in the distance. In a word, it is idylic. A sense of peace permeates the island.

A little more worrying is the volcano-like structure in the north. But even a quick glance will show it is not a typical volcano. There is no smoke and the liquid slowly running down it in rivulets is pink and blue.

Exploring the passengers will find beautiful beaches, ragged cliffs to walk and caves to explore. Where it is more craggy the beaches are made of pebbles- perfect for rock pooling.

The place has no people, but it is clearly maintained. The eastern beaches have racks of shallow boats, both canoes and one- or two-person sailing dinghies. There is also a small building in which scuba gear is stored, along with several waterproofed manuals and instructional literature.

Ruins of ancient houses are scattered across the island, but the main settlement is built into a rocky section in the north-west that has been secured with ropes and stairways cut into the cliffs, perfect for scrambles and hikes.

There are no living quarters, but there are sheltered sections with basic toilet facilities marked as camping grounds in five different sections of the island - by the hot springs, within the ruined fortress, beside the harbour, on the eastern beaches, and on the northern face of the mountain.

Hot Springs

To the west are the hot springs. They have both outdoor and indoor areas; the indoor areas being wooden loghouse saunas, changing rooms and storage sheds, whilst the outdoor areas are a tiered series of pools spilling down the side of the mountain and shaded by brightly flowering trees. The waters are hot, mineral-rich and soothing.

Perfect for overly stressed, world weary Void heroes...

(OOC: More setting information is here, please feel free to go wild with the setting and have a fun and relaxing time. You can use this post as a catch all for your holiday or make your own posts on

middleofsomewhere. More information about how the memory event is structured is here!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Luckily such things had not yet happened for Taiki, the strange thing he had seen on arrival aside. But he is very glad to put Tidus' plan into action, he had wanted Lord Gyousou and Roland to meet ever since meeting the man on the platform.

He is walking by his kings side, head perking up at the whistle and he waves back, much more timid than Tidus' own demeanour.

He blushed though, looking up at Lord Gyousou and then back at Tidus. "Um..."

That would be a lot of berries...

Roland distracts himself from the visions - memories, according to Nita - by saying yes to everything. Yes to outings, yes to new meetings. He doesn't want to think about how memories he keeps at the very back of his mind are being shared with someone else without his consent.

So right now he's walking slow, eyes low, gaze switching from one side to the other as if he's looking for something by his feet. Eventually, when he reaches Taiki and Gyousou, he's already kneeling to gather one or two big stones stained with the substance that oozes out of the mountain. He puts this inside his bag, slung over his shoulder, before standing up and crossing his arms next to the two.

"Tidus rarely stops once he's put his mind to something. Maybe we can dare him to pick the entire island clean of fruit, huh Taiki?" He smiles in amusement, leaving the rest of that sentence open. Next to the kingmaker he's come to know, after all, is the king he serves; someone he's been looking forward to meeting for a while now.

It's slightly awkward, after his... hallucination? But he's persevering. Recuperation and relaxation is something everyone sorely needs, and if that means pretending everything is fine, he'll humour that wish. A Talk is lurking on the horizon, however.

Tidus makes it easy to stay at a slightly shallower mindset, and he laughs at the boast, and the older man's easy inclusion of Taiki keeps the smile on his face as they come to a stop.

"He would need to! Heavens willing, Taiki will live for many centuries yet."

Welcome to the pretending everything is fine 2x combo. Inigo really didn't have the heart to be the one to ruin Tidus's plan over here, despite his many attempts of trying to avoid Gyousou. He doesn't want to be selfish. So he'll pretend it's fine, if that's what makes it easier for everyone else. At least it should be a lot harder for Gyousou to confront him about everything when there's so many of them present. Right? Hopefully? Please?

Not that Inigo still isn't cautious. He's sticking close to Roland's side as he's bringing him over to the meeting point - Roland feels Safe, after all, especially in this wild, wild situation - but the moment the other is a bit closer to Gyousou, Inigo instead tears himself away from Roland's side to move over to nudge Tidus with an elbow in the side and a grin he quickly forces on his face.

"Don't put him on the spot like that, you'll embarrass him!"

Wow look at this group of Very Okay Guys just hanging out!

Saku gets a "Sounds like a challenge to me!" out of Tidus, the grin of a challenge accepted, shared with Taiki as he flicks it in his direction. Not the longevity part of course, and let's not go down that route with their pal!

But then Inigo's nudging at his side, just as Tidus is pushing up his sleeves and rolling them out of the way, holding up his hand with the Arms Band--a gold band--round its wrist. Tidus dismisses him with a tilt of the head, a bah!, following into a chuckle.

"I'm eating some too! It's for the people who don't eat fish." Which is maybe how he could have explained this in the first place, but better late than never! "Everyone's gonna be catching fish, but who's getting anything else? I got jars--" and here, let him just make an empty glass jar appear in his hand. Here you go, Inigo, hold this.

"--or if those're too small, I took some bowls outta the kitchen."

And now he puts out his hand, readying the other and--poof! Steel bowl in his hands! Tidus is too powerful with this hammerspace.

"I think we should leave some fruit for other people to enjoy." He can't help but chide. It is literally his job to think of the consequences of actions like this.

Well maybe not quite like this. He smiles at Inigo, glancing at Gyousou again as he senses the tension there but then is more than distracted watching Tidus pull things out of... his arm?

"That's a lot of jars Tidus..."

Maybe not a lot but where are they coming from?

He sends Tidus a dry look as the teen unabashedly uses the Arms Band for just about anything. Not that he completely disagrees with the way he's stretching its purpose - Roland does admit it's a smart way to bring what would have been bulky material - but there might actually be a concept of going overboard that he didn't take into account, here. He realizes this fully when the steel bowls come out.

He doesn't address it directly anymore, but he does comment on it with a low voice, just enough for Taiki and Gyousou to hear from proximity.

"I really hope he doesn't lose any of that..." He's not entirely sure if the train re-stocks them with kitchen supplies, food and ingredient of the month aside. "Anyway," he adds, turning to the two next to him. "Are berries a favorite treat of yours, Taiki? Your Majesty?" The small talk comes easy, practiced and cordial as he naturally is especially when he knows who he's speaking to.

"I'm sure we can keep an eye on him," Gyousou suggests, in far better cheer seeing Inigo blend in with the group. The appearance of containers is odd, but not impossible. There are legends of scabbards and rings able to hold objects within themselves from ancient Tai, and he has seen his fair share of impossibilities on the train in combat practise. He'd ask about it, but Roland switches subjects, perhaps wisely, and he goes along with it. Turns to him, more attentive. "I've become more of a fan from recent kitchen endeavours... but Kouri is the expert, hm?"

Thankfully the Arms Band is nothing new to Inigo. He's seen Roland use it before, he's seen Tidus use it before, he doesn't even blink as there's bowls and jars appearing out of nowhere. Maybe Tidus shoved the entire kitchen in there, who knows. Would Inigo put it past him? No.

So while he vaguely realises that the other three are talking about berries - and he sure knows about Taiki's berry thing already by now, considering the whole cooking thing from the other day - he instead takes this moment to shift the jar Tidus shoved at him so he can properly hold it and harass the other guy rather than mix himself in the main conversation when he really doesn't want to draw too much attention to himself.

So instead he's just going to nudge Tidus in the side again. Hopefully not hard enough to make him drop that bowl..

"What am I, your pet mule?!"

You're not his dad Roland, you can't tell Tidus what to do. Even his own dad can't tell him what to do!

"I bought these for the supplies!" Tidus explains, though the mood drops as he goes on. "They were supposed to be for sticking meals in, but instead I got jars. Well, at least they're good for something."

That's an upside, isn't it. Tidus can easily shrug it off, listening to conversation between the two men, or until he gets shoved. He looks at Inigo with confusion, a frown.

"Huh? Do you have something to stick the berries in already?" You got a bag there, Inigo?? A bag filled with jars?? Why's he complaining? But the answer to that doesn't actually matter when Tidus, reminded of the others, proceeds to hold out the bowl for Inigo to take--"Here, hold this, I need to get the rest of the jars out!"--to free up his hands and make more pop into existence.

Taiki just blushed slightly at Roland's question and nodded, "Yes." He feels a bit embarrassed really, after all Tidus, Inigo and Lord Gyousou had made him a whole dinner made of berries and now they were picking berries.

But at least Tidus makes it clear it is for all the people who don't eat fish. That makes it a helpful and practical thing to do at least.

He lets himself get distracted by Tidus and Inigo, smiling softly.

Roland's sharp ears catch Tidus's sentiment, and in a smooth transition that only he would be able to pull off, he manages to turn to the youth with a slight cringe on his face. "You can still use the jars for food, they'll keep just fine." Because they will, and he's mentioned this to him already! But Roland has already noted to help him with more 'modern' requests, something he's realized is a necessity if they're to avoid Inigo choking on army-rationed MRE's, or the panic over jars. But his reprimand is light, no real chiding to it really.

He removes himself from that conversation expertly, turning back to the king and his kingmaker with ease.

"Then we'll do our best to pick only the ripest ones, Taiki. And...Kouri, your Majesty?" His finger rests under his chin, head in a slight tilt.

Edited 2020-08-18 15:18 (UTC)

Gyousou isn't so much ignoring the teenagers as he is allowing their argument to wash over him with the ease of experience. He waits for the aside to be done rather than try to continue the conversation; Taiki's expression is too cheerful to disturb.

But eventually they return to it.

"Taiki's personal name," he explains. "And please, Gyousou will do just fine."

.. this seems like the perfect moment, doesn't it? Even as Tidus is busy shoving more stuff into his arms - thanks, bro - Inigo gives him a Glance that this time is more meaningful than just petty whining over having to carry things. This is what Tidus wanted, right? Isn't it the perfect opportunity for it?

Inigo knows though that Taiki would probably have much more trouble distancing himself from a conversation than Inigo or Tidus would, knowing how quiet and polite Taiki is.. So he shifts the bowl and jar in his arms so he's holding them with one arm, and so he can use the other to wrap around Taiki's shoulder.

"Don't mind us, but we need to borrow Taiki juuust for a second." He smiles brightly at Gyousou and Roland. It's seemingly a sign that this is not more Gyousou Avoidance on Inigo's part, since the smile seems a bit too genuine for it..

(Though it sure is conveniently part of the plan, okay.)

"You two just talk for a bit!"

And with that he will just.. gently tug Taiki along back towards Tidus so the three of them can go off and give the old men some privacy for their bonding time..

"I'm complaining about the size!" Tidus butts in to Roland's butting in, 'cause THEY'RE SMALL, DUDE, WHY DID THEY HAVE TO BE SO SMALL. He knows the food will keep that isn't the probleeeem!

But despite all complaints, Tidus is bringing out more of them, using Inigo's volunteered position as Official Jar And Bowl Holder to plop each new jar he brings out of nowhere inside. Two jars each should be okay, and then there's the other bowls he took out from the kitchen somewhere in his band...

Except he doesn't get to the end of his amazing plan when Inigo is throwing him Looks, which usually end up with Tidus looking back at him, puzzled. And then the next thing he knows, Inigo hs ""kidnapped"" Taiki, and now they're starting to walk off...!

Bro. Bro! They haven't given the old men the jars yet!!

Which doesn't mean that Tidus is going to stop him or them or any of this. He looks from the men to Inigo and Taiki, takes the bowl and the jars already out of the band from Inigo and sets them on the side of the road, pointing as he straightens back up, "Fill them up!" and returns to the younger pair, shuffling on along with them.

byyyyeee grandpaaaasss

"Inigo!" He is pretty surprised at being bodily kidnapped by Inigo and dragged away from where he was stood with Lord Gyousou and Roland.

He struggles a little bit, not seriously, but just trying to look back at Gyousou, to check that it is alright if he goes off with Tidus and Inigo.

Sure technically he knew this was part of the plan, Tidus' plan to find Roland some more friends, but he hadn't thought it would be this... sudden...

"Heh. Gyousou it is, then."

- is all Roland manages to say before the trio pull themselves away from their shared conversation. Poor Taiki is dragged by Inigo and Tidus doesn't do anything to stop it from happening, just leaving a bunch of jars and bowls on the ground before running off, ridiculous and altogether obvious. His hand finds itself on the back of his neck, head shaking side to side in disbelief. Why there always has to be a game to these things is beyond his understanding. He turns to Gyousou as they are abandoned completely to pick berries by themselves.

"You know, I honestly had no idea teenagers are convinced this kind of behavior is subtle." Roland sighs inwardly and decides to walk to the spot of the wayside containers, picking them up and stacking what he could to make carrying them a bit easier. He returns to Gyousou's side not long after.

"I suppose it's just you and me, then. Here's to hoping I make for suitable company for today's berry picking session?" He offers a slight smile, some jars and bowls ready for Gyousou to take should he wish to start the task while they walk the length of the road ahead.

Gyousou's contribution to the initial ambush - or desertion, really - is to grin and make a slight shooing motion when Taiki looks back. The kirin looks surprised, but simultaneously resigned; there has been some forethought put into this outing, apparently.

"We can excuse some sloppy planning, in this case." And he's sure it's sloppy, from the expressions on Tidus and Taiki's faces. He reaches for his share of the containers, and balances them in one arm. "Since I have no complaints with the outcome. Roland, isn't it?"

See, that's exactly why Inigo just dragged Taiki along! He knew that Tidus would find some sort of way to get the old men the jars they need.

He does, however, feel a bit of guilt at Taiki's reaction. So he makes sure to loosen his hold, giving Taiki all the room to do and move however he wants to - it's not like this is an actual abduction as much as it's a.. not very subtle nudge to get Taiki to come along with them, after all. It also gives him plenty of opportunity to see Gyousou's reaction, knowing that that at least won't prevent Taiki from going with them, phew.

(But he also definitely catches Roland's reaction and sweet Naga, please tell him he didn't get judged.. he's sorry, dad..)

Inigo is quick to hide the worry though, instead just merrily continuing to drag Taiki along for their little teen adventure.

"There, got them together!" He says once they're out of earshot of the other two. "Just like you wanted, Tidus."

"What was the rush? We didn't need to ditch them that quick."

If he didn't expect Inigo to do something like this--or couldn't dismiss that Inigo would go and get ahead of himself; this is the guy who shoved dried rations directly into his mouth--then Tidus might guess there was another reason for it. A more personal or undisclosed reason. But really, this is absolutely an Inigo move.

Still. "I wanted to start some subjects for them, get them talking about, you know....things," he says with a hand waved for emphasis. Things. And he can do that, considering his hands are empty now, most of the supplies left with Saku and Roland. Oh well. "Well, they'll be okay. We'll see later."

When he sees Gyousou's gesture he relaxes and allows Inigo drag him along to Tidus. He glances at Tidus, feeling the need to defend Inigo even if he also agrees that that had been very quick.

"It's alright. Lord Gyousou is a very good conversationalist."

He's not sure there is anyone who Lord Gyousou couldn't find interest in and speak to. He made words flow where Taiki often fell into awkward silences.

He has no doubt he and Roland would be alright.

Does Inigo realise that what Taiki is saying is not just a compliment to Gyousou, but also half an attempt to defend him? Not at all.

So that's not the reason as to why his arm slips away from its place over Taiki's shoulders to instead hold the other's hand as they walk. No, that's just general fondness. It's hard to not want to hold Taiki's hand whenever he's near the other, really.

"Yes, and you know Roland easily talks to people as well. Besides, can't they just talk about.." Inigo's voice trails off, as if he's still trying to think of a subject matter as he's already spoken the first half of that sentence, "... kingly things together?"

Edited (i hate ree) 2020-08-20 18:40 (UTC)

HI

LEZZ GET THIS BREAD, YOUNGINS

cant wait to meet my new frendo

https://tenor.com/view/dog-nervous-eyes-innocent-scared-gif-13523547

Team Friendship

Re: Team Friendship

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bye kids don't do anything we wouldn't do

this is the cool kids subthread now no old men allowed

nee naa nee naa

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this is the old men thread now /aggressively plants a flag here and puts up lawn chairs

puts the tv on but really loud

opens a cold drink but doesnt use a coaster