middleofsomewhere | 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

Taiki was aware of him, of both of them actually. How could he not be? But there were others with similar energy on the train, people who felt... almost like youma. Powerful, enough to make his kirin senses aware, ready for danger like he was a small creature in a forest of predators.

But he mostly ignored it, after all he was wary of everyone and no more wary of those who felt so powerful. He knew the harm just ordinary people could do. It was something he was at least aware of though.

Ignoring the feeling didn't mean he had purposefully ignored those who gave him the feeling but... he hasn't actually spoken to them before and so he actually jumps at being addressed.

"Um..." Looking between them before nodding. "Yes. You look very nice. Both of you."

Clearly they had taken the effort to pick out clothes, more so than he had.

Aziraphale himself has been vaguely aware of more powerful - or, at least, with some form of power - creatures in the train ever since the last stop, a couple of which he'd actually met in person. So far, only one of them had given him alarm (though not by any fault of their own), and the signals do eventually blend into the background when the angel isn't really paying attention to them.

He'd take note of it now, probably, if he didn't feel terribly embarrassed by what's happening.

"Oh, thank-- thank you." A compliment is a compliment, after all. "Don't mind him."

Powerful beings aren't something Crowley keeps on his radar. He could sense if there were others like him and frankly that was all that mattered, because he didn't have anything else to fear.

"What does that mean?" he asked in an almost offended manner, "Don't mind him?!"

He smiles nervously at the thanks and then his eyes flick from one to the other as the first man seems offended.

"Sorry..." Had he... He has no idea what is happening here but he feels like he has made it worse. Come in between something that he shouldn't.

Aziraphale gives Crowley a rather stern frown, the kind that people in cahoots give each other when one's being a tad too obvious. Or one that someone gives their spouse when they're just being a tad too much right now.

"Oh, no, no, not to worry." He addresses Taiki again, with a polite, if awkward smile. "My apologies, we didn't mean to startle you."

Crowley regards Taiki with a softer look, "Nothing to be sorry for, you're not the one dismissing me entirely." As he says the last three words, his head turns to Aziraphale, passive-aggressively scolding him.

"You try to make someone feel better and look where it gets you." he mutters.

"Um... It's okay..."

His eyes kept flickering between them as they spoke to him and then each other again. He's not sure... If this is real hurt between them. It doesn't seem to be. More like when Inigo and Tidus bicker, the way Enki is with his king. The bickering of two people who know each other well. A way to show affection.

He hopes it is that, and not a real argument.

Well, history would tell that it could well be both.

"I am not dismissing you." Aziraphale responds, stern but keeping a level tone, as if not to embarrass himself. (Too little, too late, there.)

"I just don't think there's any need in bothering bystanders."

He clears his throat and smiles again, which is clearly a practiced reaction.

"My apologies, again. It's all quite alright."

Whatever Aziraphale thought he was doing, it's had the opposite effects on the demon.

"So I'm bothering people now?" he grunts, and then because the other person in the conversation now operates as a prop for Crowley's point, he bows to him, eyes low to the ground.

"Oh please forgive me, I hadn't meant to bother you."

Taiki eyes widened at that bow, looking between them again absolutely lost. He had thought they were joking, perhaps they were not? But now...

"You don't need to apologise, please..." He reached out instinctively to the mans hands. "I am not bothered at all... Um..."

He looks between them again, a deer in headlights.

Event: Healing Waters

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oh the poor thing

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