[Pyrr Solstice Festival] Volcanic Hot Springs

[swiftyuki]

Outside of the capitol, there are resorts in remote locations that celebrate the festivals as well, featuring more traditional delicacies of the represented element. Some of the larger ones may still put on a show, but these resorts are more here for those to unwind and treat themselves while keeping the mood under a light festive air.

During the Pyrr Solstice Festival, many tend to offer special deals for hot springs visits, namely those of a volcanic hot springs, offering several services such as volcanic sand pits, outdoor heated pools, hot lava rock massages, and more.

[Luna]

[Refs]

Luna settled down in her room. It was a single space. It could probably room two people but Luna came on her own. The floor was a tatami mat floor, the scent of the plant fibers woven tightly into the mat and bound with a slightly rough green silk fabric mixed with some incense that was burning on a table to the side. It wasn't overpowering, and it was nice. The faunus' stuff was placed in a corner.


Luna was lounging in a seat settled next to a small table and a large panel window overlooking a vast forest that surrounded the area. There was a mountain range cresting the edge of the horizon but the volcano itself appeared to be much closer. That made sense, this was a volcanic hot springs after all. After a bit of sitting and doing nothing, Luna decided she wanted to just explore the place to see what it had to offer. She got up and picked up her room key and left the room, locking the door behind her.

The first place in the lobby area she passed was one of a few scattered gardens on the premises with wooden walkway paths that snaked through the greenery. Most of the trees here were maple or cherry, but it was way beyond the blooming season for cherry trees. The maple trees had leaves o brilliant greens and reds, shading most of the paths with their leaves save for a few spots and saving the visitors from the intense heat raw sunlight brought out. It was pleasant to look at, a soft breeze rustling the leaves and making the branches sway gently. Large rocks covered with moss were loosely scattered around the wooden walkways, a few with a trickle of water filling up a bamboo shoot that would fall with a "thock" every now and then only to tilt back up to fill with more water and repeat the process. Luna figured walking through there would be super nice, feeling a breeze through the fur on her tail and listening to the sound of birdsong and the wind through the leaves.

She moved on, as there was more to explore. She passed a large room with several double door entrances and a lot of muffled noise of several voices speaking in a multitude of conversations. A quick peek in and she saw several large families in tables gathered to spend the festival together. The noise they made was filled with kids being kids, conversations, someone's weird uncle bob already wasted and dancing on a table or doing something weird and causing an uproar of laughs and concerned staff trying to pull the man off the table. 

The food itself was a grand spectacle in its own right. Staff were out in full swing, making sure all dishes stayed up in stock. The dishes themselves were assorted artistically but also seemed to glisten with freshness. This was some top tier primo shit. Like this was some hardcore king or queen of the castle type elite people food. One of the tables was specially decorated to signal that was festival specialty food, but it seemed all sections were busy. Luna's mouth drizzled a bit with drool just from the sight and scent of food alone but she shook her head as she went to continue her exploration. 

The next section was what looked like an arcade. It had a sub-room with a ton of noise and bright colours from the games inside. A ton of kids were there to get their game fix. Just outside seemed to be sectioned for table tennis and had a couple vending machines for older folks watching kids to unwind and still have fun at a lower energy level. Luna felt a slight pang. She wished she told Luke and invited him to go with her but he seemed to have his own plans. They're totally spend the time cheating the rigs in the games and boasting their prizes before likely giving away most of these trinkets to the kids save for a few.

Luna made her way back to her room. This place wasn't cheap but the Bartender did her a solid and managed to get her a discount. Something about an owed favour from an old time friend. Seemed the guy had a lot of those kinds of contacts, which was honestly awesome. She hoped she could land a web like that herself. Well, shitlord Luke or no, she was going to enjoy herself. The faunus gathered a robe that was neatly folded and placed next to the incense burner and stacked it on her towel. 

She made her way to the baths. There were two doors with a noren* hanging on each of them. One was red and the other blue, red for women[s and blue for men's. Luna entered the women's bath and hoo boy there were a lot of naked people here. Ladies of all sorts were here, young and old and of many backgrounds. Some were simple civilians, those that worked jobs that barely gave any wear on their bodies. Some were from villages, hands showing the wear from their labour. Some were children, but they seemed to stay huddled with their mothers. Some were adventurers of many builds, muscular or lithe, even some sporting scars or missing something across their bodies. Luna had to clear her mind and not stand there like an absolute fucking tool. People would notice and it would get awkward real fast. 

She made her way to a series of cubbyholes and set her things down in one. She undressed herself, and went over to the showers first so she was clean before soaking in with the rest of the ladies there. To her surprise, there were fire elementals and sprites here, but the hot springs seemed to have them covered. A loud hiss from the steam made with the water of the showers came off them, but they didn't seem to be particularly bothered since it was done in moderation. Something about maybe just general cleansing from the water itself before taking a soak, Luna figured. 

Thankfully for them, there was a pool of lava nearby. It was a safe distance from the water pool, with gashes in the pumice floor that seemed to drain the lava back into the pool if it dripped off them. Alongside them were also some fire mages completely unbothered by the lava touching their skin. Wild. She found it kind of neat that mages of an element could withstand conditions most others couldn't handle well or at all. 

After getting all cleaned up, she found a place in a corner of the pool and settled there to soak, listening in on the conversations. Adventurers telling their stories of glory, how they got these scars, how they lost this finger or some other weird venture and filling children's heads with awe and inspiring them to be heroes while their mothers seemed either concerned or either supporting their kiddos dreams. This was nice. 

*Noren are a curtain that covers over doorways with a split in the middle

[Sparky]

[Ty][Luke]

    "Thanks for coming along with me, I know you were having fun back at the rave." Luke said scrubbing himself down. Personally speaking, it was really fucking weird to him that they had to wash themselves off before jumping into water, but of course everyone was adamant. Noo~ you can't~! Even Ty pushed for Luke to listen to the rules. Ty of all people! That guy literally wrote the book on breaking rules. Maybe it was a hygiene thing but, honestly-? Wait, actually that makes sense. Is that why? So the water doesn't get super dirty?  Wait, why not just put high power filters in like a hot tub... why didn't I just get a hot tub? Oh right, because hot tubs are expensive and gods know I don't have the patience to take care of them. 
    
    "Don't mention it. It was pretty much all over anyways, and besides, nice way to wind down and relax the muscles. My back would have hated me in the morning otherwise." Ty said, readjusting his bathing suit. Ty had simple swimming briefs, pretty much the same length as shorts, if not a hair shorter, and colored purple with a pink splatter design. Luke, meanwhile, was settled and comfortable with a similar length jet black pair, with a big, angry Jolly Roger skull on the right side.

    "You're starting to sound like an old man." The young punk techy tightened the cloth wrappings on his arm, and shot a grin back towards his capped friend. The other young man had his gaze hidden beneath the shadows, but the silver eyed techy could tell that he just rolled his eyes. The shower room was relatively empty, just one other young guy getting changed into a robe and heading out. Neither of the young men paid him any mind. 

    "Shouldn't you be taking those off?" Ty nodded towards Luke's wrappings. In response, the young man only finished tying them. The capped punk shrugged his own response back towards his black haired companion. Ty showed him his palms in a mock surrender. "Whatever man. You ready?"

    "Ready as I'll ever be." 

    The two young men stood side by side, sharing a fist bump as they counted down. It was a beautiful moment of shared friendship. A bond that ran deeper than blood could ever fathom. It was almost brotherly, in a sense. After knowing one another for so long, it was only reasonable that it was going to happen. Anyone that passed by the door to the showers would be met with a sense of confusion, only to be overwhelmed as two young men pounded out, running towards the hotsprings as they screamed at the top of their lungs, howling with all the energy of their youthful freedom;

    "CANONBALL!!!"

    Loud, angry curses and upset shouts came in response as many of the men, adventurers and casual civilians alike yelling at the laughing dunces as they came up out of the surface sputtering and cackling like mad. The young children who were there with their fathers joined the two boys, laughing with glee and eyes filled with childlike wonder as all sense of proper behavior promptly went out the window. Any young boy that may have been settled in, soon took to brief splash fights before their fathers finally settled them under control. Those who couldn't took the misbehaving lads and left. Meanwhile, grumpy old codgers, furious that their time of relaxation had been spoiled by a duo of rapscallions, promptly made their exit, spitting insults the whole way. The boy's response, in Luke's case, was to dab, while Ty flipped them the bird with a cheeky grin. 

    A few of the younger boys still giggled and splashed a bit, but it was more than innocent enough to allow their fathers to let them tire themselves out. Less effort than dealing with screaming toddlers as they left. Regardless, Ty and Luke were given more than a wide berth. If anything, the two practically had the whole place to themselves save for the few isolated sanctuaries those that remained had claimed for themselves. Though, after the tirade of swears prompted some mimicry from the remaining little ones, that number quickly shrank once again. 

    Those brave few that stuck it out until it all calmed down, pushed as far from the two young punks as possible, leaving them to relax in their own form of comfort. Another shared fist bump signified a job well done.

    "My friggin' ass struck the ground when we did that." Ty quipped, rubbing his rear. 

    "That's cus you jumped too high. You gotta be careful with shallower pools. It's all in the technique." Luke sunk back slightly, resting his arms against the edge of the spring. The water soothed his body, and helped ease a lot of stress and tension that had built up after a while. Unsurprisingly. Tyler, at his side, shifted slightly after his tail bone finally eased up on it's aching. His cap, surprisingly enough, looked borderline dry, if it weren't for the steam causing condensation on it's surface. "Damn brother, this shit's fuckin' bangarang."

    "Aren't you worried about getting kicked out?"

    "Nah."

    "What gives you that sorta confidence?" Ty leaned against the edge on one arm, facing towards Luke as the techy shut his silver eyes and let out a comfortable grunt. The boys could still hear some complaints outside, but it felt like a completely different world to the one they were in right now.

    "I've done a lot of jobs for some of the owner's family members, they absolutely love me. Bartender hooked me up with them awhile back, and ever since then I come by and fix some gadget or gizmo the owner's nephew drags in. In return, they let me come here for free. It's how I got you in here without having to pay a single coin." Luke opened his eyes and grinned towards his friend. "In short, ya boy's got connections." 

    Ty only chuckled in response, sighing as he, himself took to relaxing in the soothing waters. 

[Luna]

[Refs]

Luna was enjoying herself. Everything was calm and nice until she heard two very familiar voices and her eyes shot back open with a sense of dread right as she heard a loud splash followed with several angry voices. Communication in the women's bath stopped as everyone looked over towards a bamboo wall that covered the men's bath entirely. The sound of angry voices fading out told them someone was causing trouble for them and they were leaving out of frustration. 

Luna let out a groan, she knew those voices. She really wished she didn't right now. The women all seemed to be speaking in hushed voices about the two that caused trouble, them screaming cannonball was more than enough context for them. Luna was ready to die from the embarrassment that those two braincells really did that, treating this place like a swimming pool. It was only a couple minutes before she felt too uncomfortable to soak more to unwind. She got dried and dressed and sat down at a bench right outside the baths to wait for those two. How could they do this to her? She wasn't even with them and they were still embarrassing her by association!

[Sparky]

[Ty][Luke]

    Minutes passed in relative silence. The two young men didn't say much else, and the aggressive shouting had long since ending. Luke let out a sigh and scratched the side of his chin, while Ty settled in to relax his muscles. With less people to worry about, the young techy could actually relax. Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have come in at all. Ty's presence helped ease the young man's mind, but Luke knew that his friend could easily settle in on his own, where as Luke's more asocial behavior just didn't, couldn't, mesh or sit easy with it. Part of him expected the place to be calmer at this point in time. Quieter. Emptier. 

    Very clearly, he was incorrect. 

    Neither remained in the water very long after that. The two settled and relaxed their bodies, and then that was that. For Luke, it was more of wanting to avoid another group. Ty, meanwhile, really was just bored to death and didn't want to pass out in the water. Those that were left in the hot spring gave sighs of relief as the two young punks finally left, despite neither of them causing anymore problems past their initial entrance. 

    Luke's neck popped audibly as he cracked it. "Man, needed that moment to relax." He muttered, pulling his shirt back on. Ty meanwhile stuffed both their bathing suits into a waterproof bag and stowed them into his pack. 
    
    "Yeah, no, I hear you brother. Next time though can we try to find one a little less... busy?" The young man asked as the duo went for the exit. No doubt Luna could already hear their voices, but the boys were taking their dear sweet time, that much was for certain. Luke shrugged his shoulders apologetically towards his capped friend. Certainly, he didn't anticipate this event, but he figured they'd dealt with it as well as they usually did. Despite the fact that "well" for them was "poorly" for normal people. Or anyone with common sense. Luke brushed aside the noren with a sigh.

    "Honestly, next time around I might just rent a fucking hot tub. Maybe it's just the festival thing going on, but I didn't expect it to be... you know. Packed. Usually it's not this busy. In my opinion, it honestly wasn't worth coming here. Probably should have just went to the beach and called it a night." His lips parted into a sigh. 

    "I still don't understand why everyone's gotta strip buck-naked to chill in there. I mean, isn't it kinda creepy? You have kids and old men in there. Gods, Callahan would have a fucking stroke if I was that age around this kinda stuff. You know?" Luke looked back towards Ty as he asked the question, but the techy's only response was a half-hearted shrug. 

    "People think differently than us. We're the abnormals, remember?" 

    "Hey man, don't lump me into your weird anti-people complex." The two young men shared a laugh between one another. "Hey, remember how we used to talk back in the old days? You know, when we were younger?"

    "Look dude, don't bring up those bad memories. And hey- don't lump me into that shit either. Yeah I talked like that sometimes but remember how rarely I talked in the first place?" The black haired boy laughed and elbowed his friend. "It was just a different time back then. Everyone came from everywhere, and we had a lot of kids growing up with different bits and pieces of slang. It was only natural that us dumbass kids would make something of it."

    "Lotta them still talk that way from time to time. Seems like it's gotten better though. Still got bits of our old slang but it's not nearly as bad as when we were around." 

    "Times change my friend. Times change." The two continued to chuckle and grin. It was kind of sweet, in a sense. Despite their years apart, the two could still talk and laugh just like they always had. It was a strong bond, shared between two kids that grew up in hell. Ty shook his head, the shadowed gaze drifted ahead... and stopped. 

    "Run." Luke didn't have time to react as Ty started slapping his arm wildly. "Run, run, run run RUN!"

    The young techy's silver gaze shot forwards and locked onto exactly what terrified his now fleeing compatriot. His shoulders sunk in a tired defeat. "Ooooh... shit." The boy muttered as he saw Luna sitting there, looking less than happy. He immediately took a page out of Tyler's book and fled off into a random direction. At least if the two split up she couldn't get them both. 

[Luna]

[Refs]

Ty fucking fled in a heartbeat, Luke was a bit slower to catch on. She got up and went after Luke. She'd hunt down Ty later. She hounded after him, wanting to shout at him but running through the halls was already giving her unwanted attention as the boy kept running. She followed him as best she could, reaching out with a shadow to grab his arm or leg whenever there weren't crowds or fewer people around so they weren't in the way during this chase. A claw scraped against Luke's arm but surged forwards and grabbed his wrist. She pulled it back, yanking him hard enough to make him fly back a couple feet and fall directly onto his back. The shadow held on to keep him pinned there as she caught up to him.

The faunus grabbed his wrist, the same one the shadow latched to and then they both sank into the shadow itself, reappearing in her room. She kept him pinned with a shadowed hand, but due to the travel, he was now entirely bound in it. 

"What the BLACK HELLS WAS THAT?!", she shouted. "This isn't a swimming pool Luke! Jeez, even if I'm not actually here with you, you still do shit to embarrass my ass, fucking hell."

SPOILER: Click to show

Spell name: Shadow Latch

Spell Main Element: Darkness

-Spell Sub Elements: N/A

Affinity Strength: 3

Function: The caster sends out a shadow that grabs the target holding onto them, capturing the opponent and immobilizing them in place. Higher affinity shadow mages can unleash more at a single moment to a maximum of five. Likewise, higher affinity opponents can have an easier chance of escaping.

Availability: Open


Spell name: Shadow Travel

Spell Main Element: Dark

-Spell Sub Elements: --

Affinity Strength: 3

Function: Allows a shadow mage to step into shadows and navigate through the darkness, exiting another shadow elsewhere. This aids in quick escapes or simple ease of travel.

Availability: Open

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Exit, exit, gotta get to the exit. Where the fuck is the exit!? Luke ran hard, hoping to use the fact that Luna was less inclined to make a scene to his advantage. Had to find the exit. Of course Luna had to chase after him and not Ty. Why was it always him!? It was honestly pretty fucking funny, watching the tough as nails punk fleeing in such a wild panic. Sure, the guy could drop Luna in a second if he actually stood his ground and fought. The problem was, that required hurting the girl, and he had way, way, way more qualms about hurting her than she had about hurting him. 

    Case and point.

    "AH FUCK!!" Many pairs of eyes peaked out of their rooms  to see the techy get absolutely fucking slammed into the floor. But there wasn't much time for anyone to react, even Luke, before Luna sunk the two of them into a pit of darkness. He didn't know why, but plunging into the depths like this set something alight in his head, made him feel as though part of his own mind was separating in retaliation. Something nagging at the back of his head. Tugging, yanking. Like some  sort of memory of something was hidden there. The sensation was gone as quickly as it came as they surfaced. 

    Oh she was mad. Like, he knew she was pissed off, but wow she was really pissed off. Meanwhile, Luke had to get comfortable with the fact that his new home was apparently the fucking wall. "Really wishing I went to the beach now." He muttered under his breath, writhing against the shadowed bindings.

    This was so not bangarang.
        
    "I know this place isn't a swimming pool!" He was shouting back at the girl, but not out of any sort of anger. More along the lines of him desperately not wanting her to kick his fucking ass right now. "Besides, I didn't even know you were here! If I was actually trying to embarrass you I'd tell everyone about that one time you drop kicked me and I saw your cat-face panties. WAIT SHIT DON'T HURT ME I WAS JUST GIVING AN EXAMPLE!"

    Panic. Panic panic panic panic. Gods, this night literally couldn't get any worse if it tried. The young punk techy wriggled and writhed, practically snarling like a rabid dog as he fought against the shadows that bound him. Who knew that him being alone with her in a room while she wore nothing but loose robes would suck this badly? How am I even meant to reply? She's more mad about getting embarrassed than anything so it's not like my reasoning will mean jack shit. Luke strained for just a moment longer, but finally gave up and went limp against the shadows. 
    
    "Look, I didn't mean to embarrass you or whatever. So just let me go and I'll leave. It's not like I want to stay around here much longer anyways. There's way too many fucking people for my tastes and there's jack shit to do. I'll get out of your hair. Sorry." 

[[God] - Solitaire]

♠♥♣♦[smear:#4dbeff]Solitaire[/smear:#FF66DB:1]♦♣♥♠

As Ty ran from the angry Faunus he knew well was hunting them down for that. Solitaire himself was brought to the front desk, near a surge of angry people that just left the baths and were complaining about a disturbance. A couple of young men jumping into it. 

He did what he could to reassure the stressed staff that he'd speak to these lads on their behalf. After all, this was also during a festival, his domain. Solitaire began on his walk as some of the guests seemed to venture off, feeling better a god was going to take care of it. Others still felt upset that the whole thing seemed to happen anyways and were still giving the staff a hard time. 

Thankfully it wasn't hard to find one of the boys, as he was on his way to the baths to investigate, Ty ran right into him. Like, literally ran into him. The man towered over Ty, standing at nearly two feet above him. After the initial shock, Solitaire gave him a kind smile. [smear:#4dbeff]"Do you have a moment?"[/smear:#ff66db:0], he asked with a rather polite tone. Something told Ty that this conversation would be much more forgiving than whatever Luna would have come up with.

[Luna]

[Refs]

Luna was not having it right now. The shadows constricted tighter on Luke. "Are you fucking serious right now?!" She stared him down with her arms crossed. "Why are you even here? I know you hate crowds, more so I didn't think you'd be at a place like this but something like the rave or some shit."

She wouldn't have guessed it involved his connections with the Bartender, like her reasons are. To his surprise with his remark about her panties, she was trying to not slap the shit out of him. Surely after this she was thinking of just moving out and getting her own roof away from him for a bit or something. "Seriously, what the FUCK were you thinking then?!"

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Man this really sucked. Luke wheezed as the shadows squeezed tighter and the young man once again started writhing against them, this time out of pain. Alright. This was kinda starting to piss him off. The techy strained against the bindings with all his might, forcing them wider and wider away from him- only for it to snap back shut and elicit a... quite angry yelp of pain. There was a lot of frustration, and honestly Luke was getting sick of it. It was good to see Luna was happy to prove him wrong on just how bad this night could get.

    "I didn't fucking know there was going to be this many people here. I've done work here before and it's never been this crowded. And the hell do you mean you expect me at a rave? Since when in the ever loving fuck have I been to even anything close? You think I just came in here with the sole intent to ruin everyone's night? Fuck no! Everywhere that's normally calm is fucking crowded and it's a pain in my gods damned ass." Luke has... never talked to Luna like this before. Whenever the girl hit him or hurt him, the guy had always taken it on the chin and dealt with it. But right now felt completely different, and he was done with it. "You wanna know what i was thinking? I was thinking that I knew shit was going to be busy tonight, but I still wanted to spend it with a friend, and at the end of it I assumed that everyone was going to be at the more popular locations like they usual were. I didn't fucking anticipate being this wrong, so fucking sue me."
    
    My first mistake was leaving the house at all. He thought bitterly. The boy didn't vocalize it, but he felt that he shouldn't have been so hopeful coming into this. He should have known better, and now he was getting his shit rocked because of it. "Do me a fucking favor for once and put me down so I can go home and lock myself back into my room." All Luke wanted was to have a little bit of fun tonight with Ty, and then end it by relaxing and winding down before he went home. Instead, he got crowds literally everywhere, including places there usually weren't. 

    "My plan was to get out of everyone's hair, and for once, not cause anymore damn problems. So my deepest fucking apologies for ruining your night. Is that good enough for you? Or do you need me to get on my hands and knees and suck you off? No, wait, let me guess, you want me to stick around for a little while longer so you can keep using me as your own glorified personal fucking punching bag. That's all I seem to be to you these days anyways." Luke shook his head and chuckled, looking away from Luna with a bitter grin tugging at his lips. "Man, and here I thought shit would get better with you back in my life. But it's just the same old shit, getting my ass beat just because I exist."

    Bitter was actually an understatement. 

---

[Refs]

    Meanwhile in Tyler's neck of the woods, things were no better. 

    He was almost to the exit, and he would finally be home free. The end goal was in sight, and this night would just be an embarrassing memory that they could all laugh about later. When Luna wasn't on a murderous rampage. Ty saw the girl beeline after Luke, and while he would normally feel bad about it, the techy's noble sacrifice meant that at least one of them would survive.

    Luke would understand.

    Unfortunately, this plan... was not meant to be. Just as he was about to finally make his grand escape, someone came out from nowhere and the boy smacked right up against them. Of course it had to be right when he wasn't paying attention. That's what he gets for focusing more on Luna and Luke than on his own escape. "Ah shit, sorry! I wasn't watching where I was-" 

    Oh. Oh fuck. Ty's hidden gaze slowly drifted up the features of the... terrifyingly tall man before him. Now, normally, tall didn't mean jack shit to the guy. The young punk had taken on behemoths back in The City. However... this was... completely different. While he certainly didn't follow any gods, the guy was polite enough to at least respect them at a distance. So, despite the fact that he, largely, didn't have any taste for the pantheon, he at least knew a god when he was slapped face to face with one. And this was exactly one of those moments. "-going..."

    Oh... oh no... All confidence just drained from Ty's body. Oh this is bad, isn't it? "E-eheh, I was actually just on my way out. I didn't want to cause anymore problems for anyone so I was planning on calling it a night." Which was true. Both the young men had planned on calling it after their soak, they were well and done with the festivities and just planned on heading home to sleep or do whatever. "I-I'd rather not waste your time any, so I'd rather just... get out of everyone's hair and let them enjoy the rest of their night in peace. You know?" 

    Ty was smart. He might have not been a genius, but he was smart. More importantly, he was perceptive. And seeing as Luna was upset over the duo's grand entrance, it was easy to assume that the god standing before him right now was there for the same exact reason. The boy quickly shot up to his feet, genuinely not wanting any problems. Unlike Luke, the guy knew how to keep his mouth shut and didn't have an irresistible urge to fight anyone that was twice his size. "If this is about earlier, that wasn't my idea. My buddy said that usually it was pretty empty, and we didn't actually plan on causing that big of a scene. If you want to kick me out- I completely understand, and I genuinely do not want to cause anymore problems, so I'll get out of everyone's hair. I'm sincerely sorry." 

    Owning his own business had shifted Ty's perspectives a little. Before he for sure would have tried to get out of there as quick as he could, but after starting his own shop he came to understand and empathize with other workers. So, the apology was a genuine one, and was one that, if he were in that situation, he'd like to at least hear himself. If allowed, then he was going to just... scooch around Solitaire to edge towards the exit.

[Luna]

[Refs]

"It's... A. Fucking. Festival. Of course there are going to be a ton of people here for vacation, idiot!"

She looked like she wanted to say more. She looked like she wanted to do more to Luke. Instead she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. She thought he'd at least reserve some fucking braincells for something out of mechy techy work. Somehow he managed to not meet that expectation. The shadows loosened slightly so Luke wasn't in as much pain anymore outside of whatever lingered. 

"Just... Lock my fucking door on your way out." 

She walked out of the room, shadows staying there and then dispersing when they were out of her range. It was weird to watch and feel. The tendrils just seemed to break and then melt and evaporate at the same time. Feeling through the shadows let Luke know they were somewhat tangible, but something felt off with them. They were dry to the touch, but it also just felt like moving your hand through a fresh puff of mist from a humidifier. That weird wet, silky steam feel, but then it felt dry and chalky on the surface. After dispersing, the shadows didn't leave a trace they were there despite the texture indicating otherwise. Maybe invisible traces of magic but other than that, there was nothing.

Luna stormed down the hall, forcing herself to keep a calm to not look like an angry person roaming the halls on the verge of murder. These fucking assholes. She forgot her other things and needed to get them from the baths. Once she did that, she'd drop them off and just go for a walk in one of the gardens to cool the fuck off. "Honestly what were those two thinking?", she muttered to herself. She was already too drained emotionally to hunt down Ty. Just the sight of her alone was probably enough for him right now. She'd get him back if she remembered or could even bother to. 

[[God] - Solitaire]

♠♥♣♦[smear:#4dbeff]Solitaire[/smear:#FF66DB:1]♦♣♥♠

Solitaire watched the boy stumble, in general and in his confidence. The god's smile faded off slightly as he just casually blocked Ty's way by spreading an arm in the direction. Though his movements showed he wasn't really aiming to harm Ty at all. Solitaire's gaze seemed to be relatively soft, a pink and blue eye with irregularly shaped pupils staring at the boy. He started to walk, using the hand that was out to usher the boy to walk with him. 

He wanted to make sure they weren't going to draw attention, especially from upset customers that were also nosy trailing after to god to see what he'd do. Solitaire couldn't say Ty wasn't in trouble, he absolutely was. But he wasn't really the violent type. That kind of thing really takes the 'festiv' out of festivities, you know? It didn't mean that he didn't mess with those that deserved some kind of punishment. It was always weird punishments with him though.

He led Ty to a room, opening a door and holding it for him to go in first before entering himself. The room was just a normal hotel room, but it was safe to assume this was Solitaire's for the time being. He walked over and settled into a chair, beckoning Ty to sit in the other chair next to him. [smear:#4DBEFF]"So tell me son, what's your name?"[/smear:#ff66db:0]

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Once dropped, the young man stumbled slightly, hissing and sputtering from the brief spat. Grumbling, pride stricken, Luke did his best to not go absolutely lose his shit. This was a public place. Not just that, but he didn't want to hurt Luna. Those two facts alone, however, did not negate the fucking rage bubbling inside his chest. She ignored everything he said. Just walked the fuck away from him without giving him a response. It hurt. Really, really fucking hurt. More than anything it made the young techy feel so twisted inside. Like his stomach had coiled and knotted itself like a tangled rope of fucking emotions. 

    He wanted to scream

    He wanted to do a lot of things. He wanted to leave. He wanted to sit and suffer. He wanted to chase after her and apologize. He wanted to cry. Tear his hair out. Punch the wall. Kick his own teeth in for how stupid he was.

    How stupid she made him feel. 

    In his mind, the logic was sound. He frequented the place enough that it wasn't normally busy. He expected everyone to want to go to other places. He was fucking wrong. Was the guy not allowed to be wrong? Luke even said as much. But no. He was just a stupid shithead kid, and it was better just to ignore what he was saying just to get one last jab in. That shit hurt more than any punch he'd ever taken. The young man doubled over on the floor, head against the ground as he pounded his right foot into the floor, hissing curses under his breath at every single strike. Every impact was just one more exclamation of his own brain screaming at him. One more expression of his own stupid emotions. 

    Fingers curled inwards. Balled tight. Knuckles whitened. Shook. Lifted. Slammed down in unison one more time. "FUCK." The techy exclaimed. Not loud enough for the other rooms to hear, but loud enough- strained and forceful enough- to get that final bit of major frustration out. Fucking fuckety fuck fuck fucking shit fuck fuck. Luke's brain continued, unsure where to go next anyways. He wanted to leave. He couldn't. It would be childish, petty. The only use out of leaving would be just making Luna look down upon him even more. He wanted to sit here in a bundled heap. That was even more childish. Mopey. Immature. If Luna came back to that, she'd only treat him more like a child. Like a baby. Which, to be fair, doing something like that certainly would make the young man look like a mopey baby. 

    Luke could chase after her. He wanted to chase after her. But what would the boy even say that he didn't already say? Could say it in a different tone, but that took a lot of burying to do. Took a lot of ignoring what she did that upset him to this point in the first place. Luke shifted, uncurling his fingers to lace through his hair. Gripped his own head. He just wanted to slam it into the floor again and again until he went comatose. 

    Man up you stupid fuck. His mind shouted. Just fucking do it. Stop being such a petty cunt for once in your damn life! The young man wanted to. But his body refused to move. He was angry. He was upset. He was hurt. It wouldn't let him. Or was that the excuse he was making to himself? What're you going to do then? Just sit here and fucking cry? Are you? Luke grit his teeth and pressed harder into the ground. Am I...?

    Was he...?

    That one question was what finally flipped the switch. The young man let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding and, swallowing his pride as best he could, Luke lumbered back to his feet. His body was still wracked by nerves, and multiple different parts of the young man's brain rebelled against itself. There was only one choice. The techy had to shut his brain off and just... go onto autopilot. He couldn't let his own emotions slow him down. 

    Throwing the sliding door open, the young punk rounded out into the hallway, there was nothing left to stop him now. Down the hall, the familiar white-haired form of his oldest friend quietly walked further and further from him. The boy opened his mouth, but no sound came. Try harder, dammit. "L...-" His voice, horse and cracked, barely scraped out a single syllable. Recollecting, the young techy gathered again and tried once more. "Luna! Wait!" Fuck. No going back now...

    The young punk raced down the corridor at a brisk jog. In almost no time at all, he'd caught up to Luna, reaching out as his hand grabbed onto her wrist. His grip wasn't tight, the young man showing remarkable restraint to make sure he didn't hurt her. Even accidentally, and especially not when he was trying to apologize to the young woman. Silver eyes shimmered, glittering as though forged from the same metal that it stole its color from. Twice he opened his mouth to say something. Twice, all that came out were strained, shaky noises. Luke pursed his lips, worked them, and quietly lowered his gaze, hiding the shimmering silver from view underneath his long black hair. 

    "I'm... I'm sorry..." His grip tightened briefly. Not enough to hurt, but enough to be felt until he mentally pulled himself back. "I was being a dumb piece of shit. I shouldn't have said the things I did, or done what I'd done. I... didn't mean to upset or hurt you... everyone just wanted to have a good night, and I ruined it for them. You included. It's my fault for coming to a place where I don't belong, and doing things I shouldn't do. You have every right to be angry with me. I'm sorry for that..."

    When Luke released his hand from Luna's wrist, there was a brief moment where it could be seen shaking violently, until he closed it back into a fist. "I'll... get out of your hair..." Luke stated quietly. The young man passed Luna now, though he was headed towards the exit, unlike where she'd been going. As he went to leave her, he gave one final moment to say back to end his grand speech. "...I'll see you at home. Enjoy the rest of your night out, Luna."

    With how all the lost boys, and indeed even Luke, were raised and grew up, there was something to be said about this being part of his nature. The lost boys were a group of chaos-causers, and Luke had been one of the best at it before Io's departure from the land of the living. Not just because of the fights he got into either. He'd always ridding up front with Io, and never shied from starting shit. Chaos came to Luke as naturally as breathing. There was definitely a debate to be had about how hard it'd be to shake the kinds of habits that he was raised with until he was almost a full adult. 

---

[Refs]

    So. Here he was. In a room with a literal, honest to fuck God. That was one way to humble a man real fucking quick. Well, humble anyone other than Luke. And maybe a handful of others. But Ty? He much preferred not being smote by a pissed of deity. This god in particular was adamant about not letting him go home, either. At least not yet. Probably not without a scolding. Fuck. Ty hated being scolded. The guy knew what he did wrong, and he owned up to it and apologized. Like, actually genuinely apologized too. Not the shit eating, reluctant type apology.

    Dude put heart into his apology attempt. 

    With no other options than to comply, the young man slowly and quietly took a seat where Solitaire directed. This was... awkward. Mildly intimidating. Ty was not as aggressive as Luke, ok? He literally titled his fucking store "The chill Zone" unoffically because he just liked to vibe. Sure, the dude got into fights, and Tyler could absolutely beat the unholy shit out of anyone that stepped up to the plate. But that didn't mean he looked for fights like Luke did. Sometimes. Mostly! As in like, ninety- eighty? Eighty percent of the time he didn't look for fights. 

    Shifting uncomfortably, the boy's shadowed eyes swept around the room. If he knew he'd be put in this situation tonight, he'd have stayed at the rave. Kicking ass on the dance floor and putting punks in their place with his sick moves. But nooo, he had to go to a hot spring to unwind with Luke. As if that didn't already have big red warning lights. Fuck. At least Luke was probably getting the worst of it from Luna. Hypothetically. 

    The boy's attention snapped back to the god when Solitaire offered up a question. Hoo boy. This is where the interrogation starts. At least now Ty has something to look forward to. Joy. Clearing his throat, the boy's hidden gaze looked over the other individual. "Eh... it's... Tyler, sir. Tyler Dumont. My friends call me Ty." 

    Hopefully, this wasn't a private execution, and Ty would be allowed to leave soon and unscathed. That really just depended on how lucky the young punk got, though, and with how the night had gone thus far... it was entirely possible, if not wholly probable, that Ty wasn't going to get his wishes. 

[Luna]

[Refs]

Luna was honestly surprised. She heard Luke’s familiar voice and then the sound of his feet on the floor catching up to her and slowing when he was. Thankfully for him, she stopped and turned around when he called out her name, but she didn’t seem all that thrilled regardless. She wanted to have some alone time to let off some steam. What was he going to do? Make a scene in the hallway?


Much to her surprise, Luke did something she never even thought he knew how to do unless Io told him to. Well… When Io was around to set the guy straight. For Luke to do that on his own was very surprising. A quick glance down and she saw his hand quiver before balling it up, though her eyes darted back up to his face.

Did she accidentally pass out in the bath and this is just some real obscure fever dream? She folded her arms over, sneaking a pinch to make sure she was actually awake and not imagining this whole thing.


Nope.


Real.


Very real.


The look on her face when Luke apologised seemed genuinely shocked. The faunus stood there, speechless that he was really doing that. She watched him pass by, still seemingly unable to do something. No. Move, idiot! She let out a huff and started to trail after Luke, which wasn’t hard to do because he was a couple steps away. Luna grabbed his wrist as it fell back behind him in stride, She bit her lip as she tried to figure out what to do from there.


Don’t get her wrong, she was still very much upset about how this happened and the guy didn’t even give her much time to just release that frustration. But at the same time, it was so unfair how he was pulling this. She felt bad. Not exactly for him, but kind of for him. She stared at the arm she was holding onto, keeping that fake fascination to buy time to form her words.


Luna closed her eyes and took a breath in, letting it out as a long sigh. “Listen, idiot. I’m still upset about what happened but…” Man, words are hard. “I… I wouldn’t mind if you and the other brain cell stayed a bit longer.” She jolted and looked him dead in the eyes, despite the blush, there was a look on her face that was vaguely a mix of threatening and embarrassed. “That is as long as you two don’t do something that would get us all kicked out!”

[[God] - Solitaire]

♠♥♣♦[smear:#4dbeff]Solitaire[/smear:#FF66DB:1]♦♣♥♠

[smear:#4DBEFF]“Ty…”[/smear:#ff66db:0] Solitaire seemed to take a moment to engrave that in his headspace somewhere. [smear:#4DBEFF]“Good name.”[/smear:#ff66db:0], he said with a nod. Nothing to worry about Tyler, Solitaire is not as vengeful as other gods. The room seemed to be surprisingly normal and fairly vacant. Though, did gods really need to pack when they’re moving around so often? Or did they have some magic pocket dimension thing to pack whatever they needed? Who knew?



Solitaire made a motion with his hand, gathering a cup and a teapot on a trolley tray that definitely wasn’t there before but seemed to exist as normal when Ty would have looked over to see it. When did it come there? It appeared in a spot that was outside of his line of sight. Oooh, it’s magic! [smear:#4DBEFF]“Tea?”[/smear:#ff66db:0], he asked as he poured a cup and offered it to Ty. If Ty didn’t want it, he’d just have that cup for himself, it wasn’t a big deal.



Solitaire at least wanted the boy to ease up a little before talking to him about the stunt pulled. Of course, he understood that was hard when confronted by someone as tall as he and someone with his status.