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

The heat permeates the air as they approach, a temperature that doesn't stifle the blossoming trees that grow abundantly around the springs. Tidus hasn't been coy about what they're going, but he has no reason to be.

"There's hot springs! Everyone says they're relaxing. So? There's no swimming involved--it's like a bath. Let's check them out!"

That's how Tidus had sold the springs to Inigo, and all he really needed to have it sold to himself. Something new. Why not try something new? He isn't actually expecting the building attached when they get there, but it makes sense. Lucky too, since how they were gonna get changed (or where were they going to put their clothes) did enter his mind, even if it wasn't enough to stop him. They have bags, after all. Whatever!

The running of the water into the pools can be heard from inside the changing rooms, where Tidus has already taken off his shirt, bag dumped on a low wooden bench that rings around the room. He turns, pulling his arms free from the fabric.

"You didn't forget the shorts, did you?"

Shorts and a towel--that's all Tidus told Inigo to bring for the trip. And himself.

There's just a little too much dragging him towards - what feels like - his inevitable demise involved in this vacation here. And Inigo sure doesn't like it. Nope.

To be fair, he was curious about the hot springs. Inigo does really want to try them out too. He told himself that it might just be okay. Maybe it won't be as bad as he thought. Maybe he'll be there and suddenly decide that he can take baring his skin in front of Tidus. Maybe he's just making it seem scarier in his mind than it really is.

But now they're here, and it's really happening? Inigo realises that he was absolutely making it seem the right level of scary. He can't do this. He needs to find a way out.

"Ah.. Y-Yes, I have them right here.." Inigo stares at the wall as if he's staring death itself into the eyes once they're actually inside of the building, and he shakily pulls a pair of shorts - of course they're pink with a floral pattern, what did you expect - out of the bag..

.. only to notice that, once he's turned back to face Tidus, the other's shirt is already off.

His face goes from 'still keeping things fairly well together by Inigo standards' to beet red in two seconds flat.

Did his mum find a way to come here and pick those shorts for him.

Or, Tidus thinks those shorts have to be some kind of joke when he sees them presented, staring, but deciding not to make any comment on Inigo's taste of shorts-wear (or whoever picked them). The point is, he needs to be more supportive after the joking around he did during the swimming lessons--which yeah, someone might say is when he should have been more serious, but whatever, look, Inigo's alive!

The shirt gets chucked behind his back, and his slipping his thumbs under the rim of his cargo pants. Pausing only to inspect Inigo, the grimace that's close to being permanently etched on his face.

"You don't think you're gonna drown in hot springs, do you?"

There's some incredulity in that, some please, come on Inigo, be real. Is he just scared of water in general?

"No?! Of course not!"

The response flies instinctively out of his mouth, and Inigo regrets saying it a moment later, because it would have been the perfect excuse. He could have pretended that he's worried about potential drowning, as dumb as it would be. It still would have been better than explaining his actual problem here - the problem that isn't Tidus's abs staring him right in the face, that is.

Though that latter problem sure isn't helping either. Stupid sexy Tidus!!

At least that problem does have an easy solution. Inigo just.. turns back around again. There. No more shirtless Tidus staring him in the face and making his dumb gay heart pound faster over his friend. His bro. Ugh, this is so dumb!

"I just.."

He hesitates, worried that he'll hear the same incredulity in Tidus's voice if he explained his true problem. He's not too sure if he would be able to emotionally take that, as worked up as he is already.

"I-I.. I'm worried.. about taking my shirt off.."

Oh. Embarrassment. It starts to come clear to Tidus before Inigo confesses to it, the way the other guy turns, seemingly unable to face him on
his issue. Tidus can make a jab or two at him about being scared of some hot springs, but in the end, he wouldn't keep it up. What does he know about Inigo's experiences, after all?

But he figures it isn't about the hot springs themselves, and the reason seems pretty obvious when Inigo admits what he does.

"You got a mark?" He asks it casually without being flippant, instead assuring, "It's alright, whatever's going on under there. I'm not gonna say anything -- we came here to relax!"

Right? And it isn't relaxing if he's making his pal uncomfortable. Tidus takes off the cargo pants, turning around himself to start undressing fully; removing his briefs next, and then slipping on the swimming shorts from the dressing carriage, folding his clothes together into the bag.

"It's not a big one, but I got a mark. A scar-- I got caught and didn't get it healed quick enough, so it stuck." He waits to see if Inigo will turn back around, finger tucked ready in the side of his shorts. When he has an audience, he nudges it down with the hand on the scar's opposite side, revealing fully where the mark begins on level with his belly button before dipping past his pelvic bone. An inward swipe.

"See? Glad that didn't get any lower."

Yikes.

Inigo's cheeks are still a little pink when he turns back to look, despite not having looked. He's still quite embarrassed just about the topic, after all. But when Tidus pulls his shorts slightly down like that, Inigo stares at the scar.

For a moment he's quiet, but then he forces the corners of his mouth to tug up just a little despite his awkwardness. "Yeah, I bet there's a you walking around in a slightly different world who has a huge problem."

It's the weakest attempt at a joke possible, not convincing at all, but what else is Inigo supposed to do when he's so nervous? Even though Tidus says he's not going to say anything, it's hard for Inigo's anxious wreck of a mind to not imagine the horrible, yet objectively true things Tidus might think when he sees it.

.. but not having trust in a friend would be even worse.

He sucks in a shakey breath. "Alright." Even as he says it, he's still not fully convinced. "I'm.. I'm really insecure about this, so.. you know.." He bends his head, the colour on his cheeks intensifying again. ".. be nice."

Inigo forces himself to just not think. Just do it. He puts his hands on the bottom of his shirt and pulls it upwards over his head and off in one smooth motion.

Maybe he was exaggerating a bit in his fear, since nothing on Inigo's chest looks too gruesome to anyone used to battle, most likely. It's more just the sheer amount of scars present. Many cuts of swords and lances and axes and every kind of weaponry imaginable that were never healed, some even overlapping. The most prominent one is a claw-like mark that drags down from his shoulder all the way to his belly button.

He looks away, finding himself absolutely unable to look Tidus in the eyes. He doesn't want to know what he might find there.

Yeah, I bet there's a you walking around in a slightly different world who has a huge problem.

"Heeeeeeeeeeey," comes out defensively at that, if with humour, throwing Inigo a look accompanied with a low smirk. But rude bro?? Let's not make jokes like that!

But he's careful otherwise, knowing that what Inigo's doing now, it's difficult. It's private. There's little for him to say, and he doesn't want to baby the guy by repeating that he's fine, he'll be okay, there's nothing to worry about. That just has the chance of making it worse. Inigo's confidence is--as Tidus has been finding out--a scar still raw.

A scar worse than those any of the ones he sees exposed once the shirt finally comes off, but it's true too that there's a collection. It reminds him of his father, littered with them, covering from his face to his toes. For a second, the connection softens him; makes him think about his father's journey through Spira; makes him think about Inigo's life in his own world. Different lives. Different battlefields. The same markings of fighters in their journeys.

"See? Nothing to it." Without a change in his tone or unsettled note, Tidus picks up the towel he brought with him, not sure if he'll need it or not; deposits it again when he figures it'll be better for when they get out. "You wanna finish changing and I'll go ahead?

They're resuming, continuing where they left off. Tidus looking at Inigo by the face, waiting on an answer with his body turned towards the way out.

Inigo only slowly dares to look back at Tidus - and even then, it's a near-comedic peek at first before his gaze fully turns - after the other speaks up, the tone sounding the exact same way Tidus always does.

And when he looks, he only finds Tidus's face to be the same. It's also looking like Tidus's face always does. It seemingly takes Inigo's brain a moment to process, since the tension leaves his shoulders, making them sag, only a moment later.

It's still the same. Even though he's standing here, baring the most ugly side of him for Tidus to plainly see, Tidus is acting the same as always.

Inigo feels his throat suddenly feeling tighter in that sort of way that betrays tears are on the way, and so he quickly nods.

"Y-- Yes. Go ahead, I'll be right there once I'm done."

And once the other leaves Inigo really doesn't waste any time in taking off the rest of his clothes as well in order to put on the pink shorts instead. It's only that action that still makes him pause for a bit, like he's trying to get used to such a foreign outfit for him, but it doesn't last long.

Just long enough for him to quickly wipe the water out of his eyes before he runs after the exit towards the hot springs he saw Tidus going through.

By the time Tidus is able to see Inigo approach, there's smile on his face. And it's so incredibly obvious that nothing about said smile is forced. It's just pure, unadulterated joy. Just Inigo basking in the knowledge that despite everything, Tidus isn't judging him in any way.

Things are still the same. They're still the same.

"I'm here!" He calls out. "As promised. You hardly even had to wait, right?"

Tidus can be easy to find, as long as Inigo isn't actually expecting him to be standing around. The closest pooling water is easy to find, the concrete under foot steamed and damp from the low fog that blankets over the sleek black stone. Tidus has been thoughtful though, keeping in view, except with his back turned and his head dipped upward, arms out on the edge of the springs.

"Heeyyyyyy," he drags lazily, pleasantly, like a guy in the moment of bliss. Ugh, the water is so hot. Water can be naturally like this? "No fancy introduction? Your lord has arrived, or something."

With the Your lord heavy and thick in accent. After all, Inigo likes to play up his introductions sometimes, doesn't he. He missed his chance!

He lets out a huff at that being what he's greeted with.

But at this point Inigo is in such a good mood that it's not even an annoyed huff. It almost sounds kind of amused, and suddenly he starts running again - just a few steps, enough so that when he stops, he's gliding right over the wet rock underneath. He spreads his arms, posing dramatically.

"Behold! Inigo of Ylisse, son of the Exalt, carrier of the blood of the Divine Draaa.. oah!"

He almost trips. Of course he almost trips mid-introduction. Inigo only manages to keep himself from falling head-first into the water at the very last moment.

His face starts to turn slightly red, and he quickly climbs into the same pool of water as Tidus, making it easier to hide his flustered face in the steam.

"You saw nothing."

Tidus can hear the thump of Inigo's feet, but there's no time to process it, the warning of how dumb running on slick stone actually is.

What he does manage to do is turn himself, arms coming into the water, just enough to give him a better view of the display than his previous relaxed posture would have allowed.

Nice one, Inigo.

Is he wearing a smile to properly greet Inigo in joining him in the water? Absolutely, and Tidus chokes out a laugh too at Inigo's attempt at brushing it off. He pushes his back against the edge of the pool again, smile turning into a grin.

"You're such a dramatic guy sometimes!" Sometimes? All the time. "Did you actually say that back home?"

"No way!"

At least that seems to be the truth, since the answer comes so quickly. As if the thought itself is instinctively rejected.

"I would never actually introduce myself like that." Inigo's cheeks puff up slightly as he pouts. "That sounds like something my cousin Owain would say. He's always yelling out ridiculous things like 'the shadow warrior approaches, my sword hand twitches and hungers!' in the middle of serious situations."

"Seriously?" Pfft, the sound of that guy. "Did the other guys think that was cool? The troops. What did he do-"

Tidus waves up an arm, holding an invisible blade.

"--wave around his sword on the back of a horse and go charging into battle?!"

At the word 'charge', he points his arm forward, as if thrusting the blade before a gallop. Guess who watched a medieval movie recently...!

Inigo makes a slight exasperated sound, sinking slightly deeper into the water, though obviously keeping his head above the surface.

"Owain? I bet he doesn't even know the front end of a horse from the back." .. Okay, that's giving the other guy slightly too little credit, but how can Inigo help it? They always made fun of each other, though it almost feels weird to do so now the other is no longer here to get all huffy about it. It honestly feels like forever ago since they last had an exchange like that..

"No, he just charges without a horse. Only with his sword. He's good with it though-- really good, but it's kind of ruined by the fact that he seems to think he's the protagonist of some fantasy story. Sometimes we'd be trying to avoid a battle and then he'd yell some loud thing or another and draw all attention towards us.. I'm fairly sure everyone agreed it was a major pain."

"So he's the kind of guy who fights for sport." Or so it sounds like, an amused expression on Tidus's face. "That sounds great in an army."

Would anyone in the Spira army get away with that? He can't imagine it. He can barely imagine it now. ...okay, no, he totally could, but exactly as Inigo described him: as a protag from one of the fantasy stories in the library.

"Sooo, you didn't have a cool one-liner?" Griiinning. "No, wait! You're a prince, right? You have one of those crowns? Princes wear crowns in the movies. The gold headbands? And the big long cape?"

There may (absolutely) be a light teasing to the question.

There are a lot of things he could be explaining right now. That they weren't really a formal army as much as they were a bunch of ragtag youths trying to protect what they still could together, despite the crappy circumstances. That his title as prince didn't exactly mean anything anymore back home, not with his country-- no, the whole world already having fallen.

But he doesn't want to. Especially not while they're relaxing in the hot springs. Inigo can't think of a worse mood ruiner than any part of that story.

So instead he just keeps the mood light - by groaning right after Tidus says it, like he's just rolling with the teasing.

"What do you take me for? Do you think it's practical to fight with a cape?" .. He'll just ignore the fact that both his father and sister fight in one, okay. "My sister had the crown, since she was the crown princess. The second kid doesn't get anything that fancy."

"So your sister fights in one," is instantly what Tidus is hearing here, deciding to take it that way despite previous objections. You can't hide it when you say it like that, Inigo!

But it's alright, since Tidus--after a beat--has another thought on his mind. A curious glint catching in his eye (or is that something else?).

"So, your sister," he starts slowly, clearly looking to go somewhere. "What's she like? She pretty nice?"

The cape thing? He can take that. Sure, it's true, his sister does fight in one, except she pulls it off. Lucina could make anything look cool.

But it's the next part - that comes 100% out of the blue - that startles Inigo. Enough so that his feet trash against the bottom of the hot spring, slipping, making him completely fall into the water, head under and all.

Thankfully these things really are much too shallow to drown in, so a moment later his head rises up from the surface water, red from both embarrassment and the temperature of the water.

"A.. A.. Are you trying to hit on my sister, Tidus?!"

The pitch of his voice has risen at least an octave higher than the usual.

How does Inigo find every inconceivable way of having an accident? First the shuttlecock, then the basketball, now this! Of course Tidus worries when he goes down, for the briefest, barest millisecond that he forgets that the water isn't enough to drown him (maybe Inigo would find a way anyway), and then he scoffs, on the verge of what might be a laugh when Inigo comes back up.

But he holds it back, if not his grin, voice loud and chipper.

"What? You think she'd into me? We'd make a cute couple, yeah?"

Let's just make this worse on purpose.

There's a sound as if Inigo is choking on some leftover water that was still in his mouth after his little accidental underwater adventure just now. Maybe he ought to understand by now that Tidus is just teasing him, trying to rile him up on purpose, but Inigo has never been too good at catching on to those things before it's already too late.

At least it's good for Tidus's amusement here, huh.

"No way!"

He sounds weirdly determined about this. Like it's not some hypothetical scenario. Inigo sounds halfway towards ready to throw down to protect his sister's hand. (His face is still totally red though, and the way he half-sputters as he talks doesn't help make him seem any less ridiculous.)

"She's much too precious to give up to you!"

Tidus isn't sure if Inigo means give up in a bow-chika wow wow way or to give into dating him entirely, but he can go with either regardless. How can he do otherwise when Inigo is reacting the way he is? He can be so goofy sometimes. Tidus loves it (especially when Taiki isn't around to get upset with him).

"C'mon, man, I thought you'd be the one guy supportive of us! You should be happy! I wouldn't do anything wrong to your sister!"

He's never done this before, really--but then, he's never meant anyone quite like Inigo before, who gets lost in his defences and puts himself in situations like these. Tidus isn't even sure he can take the credit for this. This is all Inigo.

But he will absolutely go along for the ride, sounding as close to hurt as he can. ...while still wearing a smile.

Yeah, right! That hurt in Tidus's tone isn't going to fool him as long as he's still smiling!

Granted, that very same smile should be Inigo's clue that the other is joking about all of this in the first place.. And yet his mind can't reach that far, apparently. Just barely far enough to realise Tidus is not actually hurt at Inigo's refusal to let him date his sister.

"What would you do for her then, huh? You don't even know anything about her! You have no idea what she's like, so why are you interested!" He sounds defensive, but in an oddly childish kind of way - he kind of sound like he's an eight year old.

Or maybe that's just due to the way he's starting to huffily puff up his cheeks like a pufferfish.

Why is he interested? Because Inigo's giving him all the reason in the world (and more!) to be.

But now he has to keep this up, doesn't he. How long is this going to keep up for? Tidus can't even imagine, but for as long as Inigo gives him ways to keep going, he might as well, shouldn't he. And it's not too difficult, lifting a palm lazily from the stone side where he has his arms spread out, his body relaxing in the pool, caring little for space.

"That's not true. You told me all about her on the beach. About how serious she is, smart, hard-working... how much you admire her. Is it hard to imagine a guy could like a girl like that? 'Cause she sounds pretty stellar to me."

He's not exactly sure if that's all true. It's been a while, but Tidus remembers Inigo spoke spoke about her fondly, enough for him to figure he's close. He adds as well anyway, for another point: "And you're not that bad-looking, for a guy. Your sister's got to be even better."

Just saying.

Wow, bro.

No homo? Yes homo? Inigo actually looks pretty unsure of how to take that last part of a moment. He doesn't move from a moment, staring at Tidus with wide eyes.. It's a good thing his face can't turn anymore red than it already is from all this heat and how worked up he's been.

But a few seconds later he seems to remember that, right, he was busy being mad at Tidus! For trying to hit on his sister! But now he's complimenting her, and Inigo can't ever deny Lucina compliments, so.. ugh, what is he supposed to do now, huh?

"She is stellar." He definitely still sounds like a pouty child. "And amazing. And everything great. But you still can't date her!" Over his dead body, bro!! "Besides, then you'd have to be married to the Exalt. I can't imagine you having to deal with royal stuff all day!"

.. well, that's just him lying. Lucina won't ever be able to take her throne. But it's not like Tidus has to know that.

Huh? Oh. Oh!

"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Speaking of royalty and marriage and what exactly happens in that situation--he can't remember exactly if he was going to ask Inigo, but he thinks he might've. Well, he was going to now. "--if a guy marries a princess who becomes a queen, does that guy become a king? Do you have to be royalty to be a king? How does it work?"

He's actually curious as he asks this, a level of sincerity that was lost before in anything previous. Giving away that this isn't a spontaneous new thought, but one that's been on his mind before.

for inigo and SPECIAL GUEST

wow i wonder who it will be

it is a secret

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