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!)

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He nodded, though he had never made bread, he at least had a knowledge of how it was made and Tidus sounds knowledgeable enough.

"Tidus is right, it's not too difficult, I am sure you will be a baker in no time."

Plus magic elf grain. He had no idea how that would work at all.

He listens to them for a second, but then just lets out a 'pfft' kind of sound.

"Of course I'd be a baker in no time!" Ah, there is it, the usual dramatic fake overconfidence.. But Inigo figures out he might as well pull it out and lay it on a little thick in order to cover up everything that makes him feel weird right now. "Is there anything I can't do?"

He grins widely at Taiki, before turning to Tidus and squinting a bit-- "Don't answer that, it's a rethorical question!" Don't you even dare taking the opportunity to tease, bro! Not in front of Taiki!

He won't answer it, but he will give Inigo the kind of smug smile that says it for him. Before looking away, returning to the berries. Ah, these dumb jars really are too small...ugh.

"Big talk! Sounds like Inigo really wants to give it a go then, huh? We should get a bread book and really turn him into a baker! Some cinnamon rolls, and sweet breads? And we'll taste test for him, right Taiki?"

Look at this trap you have set for yourself, Inigo.

He shook his head, agreeing. There really wasn't anything Inigo couldn't do. He believed in him.

"That would be nice, I am sure anything Inigo makes will taste delicious."

"Taiki, I'll make you anything you want! Just say the word!"

How could he not instantly give that to the other when Taiki is giving him so much praise.. Inigo basks in it, totally not caring about the trap he is happily walking into with both legs. If Taiki wants baked goods, then he'll get them, no matter how long Inigo has to figure out how to make them.

Tidus, on the other hand.. he saw that smug smile, bro! Inigo squints at him. "You on the other hand are lucky if you get some leftovers!"

Wh--! What did he do, bro?! What did he do! Tidus stops in his fruit picking, looking between the pair before pointing a finger at Inigo, attention on Taiki. A hurtful expression on his face that isn't at all exagerrated.

"Hey! You hear that? He's picking on me! What did I do?"

Taiki, can you believe it..?! Give Inigo trouble for him!

"You can share with me." He said softly to Tidus, he's not sure what Tidus has done actually, but he thinks Inigo is maybe mostly joking. He still finds it hard to tell sometimes with these two.

He looks between them, "If we all bake together you can both eat the things we make."

Considering Inigo has seen the way Taiki has scolded Tidus for his sake before, he knows what Tidus is trying to do here. He can smell it in the air! He's trying to turn this table around on him, and Inigo's jaw already drops, ready to defend himself..

.. but then there's no scolding from Taiki.

He momentarily puts down his jar to wrap his arms around Taiki in a hug.

"Taikiii, why do you always have to be so sweet, huh? You really are too good for this world!" Even letting a scoundrel like Tidus have his share of the food!

...! Why! Why didn't Taiki tell Inigo like he hoped he would! Where's Inigo's glare of disapproval?

Now Tidus is really feeling a sulk coming, shooting off his own glare at Inigo if Taiki isn't going to do it. And even if the guy is too busy in embracing Taiki. Ugh!

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Huff. Whatever! He doesn't need any of this! He'll poof away his jar with its lid on top, focus and bring out the mixer bowl he put inside his Arms.

"I'm getting some of the tree fruits!" Announced, just so they don't get the wrong idea that he's sulking off or anything. He's busy doing what they came out here to do!

Being hugged by Inigo is nice, and Taiki returns it even if he can't quite agree with the words, he's not sweet.

A fact that is strongly highlighted moments later when Tidus speaks and despite his efforts... He is hurt. Taiki has hurt him, he can tell in his voice, the way he moves away, the glare that he barely hides when Taiki glances at him, twisting his head even as he remains in Inigo's arms.

"Tidus..."

He does pull away now, but only so he can grip Inigo's hand again and begin following Tidus, his voice quiet, guilty.

He doesn't really know what went wrong there. But he had said the wrong thing, hurt Tidus when he hadn't meant to.

"I didn't mean..."

He looked between them, had he misjudged it? Assumed they were being light hearted when there was a deeper rift? Had he made it worse?

"I'm sorry..." He looked down, "I don't..." He feels lost and there is an urge in him to just leave them both, return to his king. But...

"I've never really had friends my own age before. So I don't really know..." How to act, what was expected. "But I didn't mean to upset you, Tidus."

It all happens so quickly.

One moment he's happily hugging Taiki, pretty much just having his usual banter with Tidus - one of them getting all sulky is part of it, anyway, since Inigo sure has been on the other side of this coin before.

But then Taiki shifts in his hold. At first surprise sets in when Taiki slips out of the hug, instead grabbing his hand, but the moment Taiki speaks beyond Tidus's name, Inigo realises exactly what's going on here.

He immediately shoots into panic mode. No matter how Inigo and Tidus may treat each other for fun at times, it's like they had a silent agreement all this time to make sure to not do the same to Taiki - to protect his soft heart from it. But despite them only having a go at each other, it seems they misfired and did end up making Taiki feel bad.

Once Taiki's gaze is on Tidus, and then on the floor, Inigo can feel his face visibly paling. And once Taiki is looking down, Inigo looks at Tidus, trying to catch the other's gaze - while his own is wide-eyed, obviously panicked. He dramatically mouths hug him!! because he knows Tidus has to be the one to reach out and bridge this gap, Inigo is pretty sure he might just make it worse if he says something or tries to patch it up in Tidus's place.

In his exaggerated stroppy world, Tidus is happily going over to the nearby trees to where purple fruits hang more like vanilla pods. Clumped together and odd to see, but he's tasted them once already--kind of like crunchy apple-caramel, actually.

But he's stopped by the voice behind him, though not nearly catching it at first. A sour expression turning around with him when he doesn't realise who it is speaking, and when he catches Taiki's face--

uh oh. Uh oh.

"I-- I...!"

Inigo isn't the only one wearing panic. As Tidus attempts to get his big dumb stupid mouth to function, he catches the looks being sent at him, and the big dumb mouth movements provided by Inigo.

Hug him??

Tidus's brow comes in incredulously, head near about to look around, but instead he throws his arms out wildly in Taiki's direction and mouths back, But I can just talk to him?!--a plan that he isn't so sure if is good enough alone. S-should he hug him?! Taiki likes hand-holding like Inigo does, kinda, maybe...!

Usually it might be hard to catch what exactly someone is trying to say when it's a longer sentence, but Inigo instantly grasps what Tidus is trying to say. Mostly since he knows Tidus. He knows exactly what the other is trying to convey, even if he wouldn't have mouthed anything. This is so not the moment to no homo this situation up, bro!

Although it makes him doubt too. He really doesn't want to screw this up. Taiki is too important. To both of them, he knows. Which is why he definitely starts to look more unsure of himself, cheeks burning and his gaze darting away to their surroundings before it returns to Tidus. Ugh, what is the right thing to do here?

He shakes his head, looking even more frantic now as he mouths all over again. Just do it!!

ugggghhh FIIINE.

With that final command (demand?), Tidus barely stops himself throwing up his hands in resignation and makes his way over to Taiki. Throws out his arms instead to wrap Taiki into the equalvalient of a bear hug, face in the crook of his neck and all.

"You didn't upset me at all, Taiki! Not one bit! I was just messing around with Inigo because-- 'cause that's how we are! We say stupid stuff, but we don't mean anything. And we don't mean to upset you!"

He doesn't know which is worse: if his hugging is as awkward as it feels, or if he doesn't sound like a complete moron. Were they as equally dumb? Was Taiki going to think he was making fun of him? Uggghhh--what a stupid way to upset a friend!

"You don't need to apologise 'cause there's nothing to be sorry about. --Inigo!" He looks at Inigo, red-faced and flustered and all that good stuff. "Hug me and Taiki too!!"

The moment his name is called, Inigo looks so surprised by it. He even briefly looks around him, as if there may be another Inigo nearby who Tidus is refering to. But.. nope, seems like Tidus really is calling out for him.

And once that fact is clear to him, it takes very little for Inigo to just rush over and join in on this group hug action. If not just for the fact that Inigo always wants hugs by default, of course he's going to hug then the moment he's told to.

Especially when Taiki can use all the love and support he can get right now. Inigo attempts to wrap his arms as far around the other two as he can while he and Tidus hold Taiki sandwiched between them.

"Y-- Yes! We just say dumb things, Taiki! We're idiots!" He even shoots a quick panicked look Tidus's way, like he's trying to say don't even try to argue with me on this one right now I SWEAR TO NAGA-- "But it's never got anything to do with you! Nothing is your fault! We both love you! We're your same-aged friends!"

Looking down as he was he missed the exchange of the two panicking ~~puppies~~ teenagers. He is too busy wanting the ground to open up and swallow him. It wasn't surprising that he is so lost, they really were his first friends like this. He had friends of course, like Risai but she was older, one of Gyousou's generals and definitely did not act anything like these two.

But then there were arms around him again and looking up slightly he is surprised to find they belonged to Tidus. Inigo hugged him a lot but Tidus...

He was talking, reassuring and Taiki didn't think the words stupid at all because he was too busy being relieved. He hadn't upset him? It had just been in jest?

It is Taiki who feels slightly stupid now, for overreacting to what had apparently been a joke but then Tidus was demanding that Inigo hugged them too and he found himself sandwiched between them.

It's a strange feeling, arms around him. Arms that are real and solid. He has been hugged more often these last few months on the train than in the seven years prior but it is still... unusual. He still isn't used to it and his breath hitches slightly as he struggles not to cry, not sure how to even react to this sudden outpouring of affection from Inigo and Tidus.

He can't really move, trapped as he is and his words are muffled. "You're not stupid... Neither of you..."

Edited 2020-09-03 04:42 (UTC)

If Tidus was shooting Inigo a look right back that Inigo interjected into, it was DUMBASS, HE DOESN'T WANT US CALLING US IDIOTS!, which--surprise, Inigo!! You hear that muffled sound in their muffin sandwich right now!? Tidus does!

Which is a muffin sandwich Taiki isn't going to get out of-- not that Tidus has much say in that with him being squeezed in by Inigo too. He just shoots the other guy a look of TOLD YOU SO squinty squint, and lets himself be engulfed by this bizarre swisss roll.

"It's okay, he doesn't mean it bad-- we're just goofballs!" There that's how you do it, Inigo! "But he's right about one thing: we are your friends! All friends are different! And this is how we are, learning and figuring each other out! You're my same-aged friends too!"

Has he said the word friends enough to get across his impassioned point?

Oh sure. Because goofballs is all that much better! Look at me, I'm Tidus and I know everything!

Of course Inigo doesn't actually voice any of those thoughts. He loses Tidus's gaze momentarily anyway as the other goes back to focusing on Taiki, so there's not even a Look being thrown the other's way, no matter how much Inigo wants to give him one right now.

It's hard to even say anything after Tidus's wildly passionate statement. There are so many openings to tease him in there, and Inigo has to leave them all unused. Isn't it so cruel.

Instead he'll wisely stay quiet.

(No, he won't, there's a faintly mumbled "He never says anything that nice to me.." if you listen closely enough.)

He wants to cry, but it's a good feeling. Overwhelmed with being hugged, being held tightly by both of them. Relief that they aren't mad at him. They aren't mad at each other. It's alright. They weren't really arguing.

And they are his friends. He really has friends who are like this, who like him. Who want to spend time with him and don't mind that he doesn't know the first thing about how to act or what to do.

He twists slightly, "Sorry... You don't need to worry about me." It was the last thing he wanted, even though the hugs were nice, being held like this was... he didn't even have words to explain what he felt.

Safe. Loved. They weren't feelings he was used to. "Thank you... for being my friends."

Tidus can feel the snob energy radiating off Inigo, but the best treatment for that is to just ignore a hater, so he does. Taiki's the one who matters here in this moment (even if one might say or express, that both of these guys matter a lot to Tidus -- that he's never quite had friends like them either, and he enjoys it, appreciates it, the fumbles and all else that comes with it.

Who knows why, though.)

He's smiling anyway at Taiki, into the side of his hair; a rumble of a laugh that doesn't come out of his throat, joyous and pleased.

"Thanks for being our friend too. You know we really want to be picking fruits and berries most of all for you, right?"

Said, if it's been a well-kept secret. Even if it would be impossible to forever feed Taiki, and even if Taiki wants them to think about everyone else as well. They have favourites, and Taiki's one of their biggest favourites on the train.

That's just the way their friendship is.

You know, Tidus says, and at the same time Inigo isn't too sure whehter or not Taiki knew - or if he did, whether or not he could accept that thought. Taiki really has a thing or two to learn about just how important he really is.

But that's exactly why they're holding him like this right now, isn't it? To prove that he's important. That they both care, even if the moment was born out of an extremely dumb misunderstanding.

"Yes, you like them, right? Then we got to take as many with us as we can!" Especially out here where you can just pick up stuff rather than having to spend points on them. "And sorry, but we are totally going to worry about you. That's our job as your friends. We look out for each other, no matter what."

Taiki blushed at that. He really finds it... overwhelming that they are so kind to him. He is used to a level of politeness, people caring about him and wanting the best for him. But that has always been in Tai. He was the kirin of Tai and one of those who could save the kingdom from disaster.

But these two are not from Tai. He does not hold their hope. Yet they care for him anyways. It doesn't feel like false flattery either, they have nothing to fear from him. No reason to pretend to be on his good side.

But he nodded, slowly. He worried about them too so he knew how it was. It was just taking a little while to adjust, to this idea.

"Yes." He said eventually, agreeing with Inigo. They should look out for each other, no matter what.

"Right! So," Tidus draws out, his head inching to look around their group circle with what amount of room he has to manoeuvre in. "Are we going to pick them, orrr, just stay like this? If you wanna stay a lil' while longer like this..."

He offers it playfully, but he isn't a rush to leave this odd pile up, as usually unsure as he gets about them--as unsure as he was to start with. But it's nice, it's not so intimidating; not when Inigo's thinking about Taiki, and Tidus knows Inigo's not really going to make any off-putting remark about getting hugged or all by now, but. Still--it's new to him, but nothing bad.

Maybe he can even get used to this, too.

"Just a little bit longer."

Because Inigo is enjoying it. Even though this whole hugging situation was born out of a dumb misunderstanding, of course Inigo of all people is going to enjoy an opportunity to hug when it's given to him. Especially when it's a nice group hug like this.

Not that he doesn't mumble those words all the same, since it's a little embarrassing.. but it's also him being truthful. He promises he'll get those berries they were supposed to gather, but just-- just in a few moments, okay!

".. unless Taiki doesn't want to." Taiki's needs always come first.

"A few moments." He agrees, Inigo would stand here and hug them forever if they let him, Taiki thinks and honestly it is nice, being hugged like this. Being between them and being held.

But they do have berries to pick and also he thinks that Tidus does not like standing still and hugging as much as he and Inigo do, he's always moving and doing things.

So just a few moments more, that will be enough and then they can pick berries. That same feeling comes over him again, that right now he is one of the luckiest people in existence. A feeling that he doesn't deserve this, not at all. But he has it and he cannot help but feel exceptionally grateful.

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blitzcheer - 2020-09-10 14:22 (UTC) - Expand

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