station72 | [ OPEN ] Hot Springs Episode!

[ OPEN ] Hot Springs Episode!

CHARACTERS: EVERYONE
WHERE: The Second Flight
WHEN: DAY :022
SUMMARY: The Sauna!
WARNINGS: Nekkid times.

[ A few hours after the murder, she hasn't blown the ship up, and here they are. Another knock knock on everyone's brain: ]

( For those of you that are interested - I have secured us a place at the Sauna. Free for us to be use without interruption from outsiders.

You are to be clean before you come in. )

[ Maybe you're here because she bullied you, maybe you want to soak - maybe you're the poor bastard that is standing guard at the door. Either way, welcome to the Suana, have fun. Or don't. ]

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I’m not defaming anything. People need to know just what they’re getting into when you’re involved.

[How accusatory that sounds — except it totally isn’t. This is just the usual, two best friends falling back into old habits, as if they were in high school all over again. It’s almost surreal, but he isn’t foolish enough to question it.

He steps back.]

And what’s this very important question?

We'll get back to this whole character slanderin' later.

[he takes another step forward, trying hard to keep a straight face--but manages somehow]

Listen, Noct. Did you ever stop to wonder that we're just a pile of bones holding up meat? And even before they are born, babies have bones. Inside their moms.

[listen carefully to the attempt at distraction, at the slow but certain stepping closer...]

[He's still backing up, to the point where he's basically right on the edge of the pool. Noctis shoots an eyebrow up, not sure he knows where this is going... but pretty sure this is just some really weird distraction technique that Prompto has cooked up on the fly.]

Yeah? Nice to know. I feel educated and enlightened.

[He's ready to jump out of the way! Of that towel!! NO TRUST]

You should be. You're welcome.

[he sounds so smug, but like a cornered animal, notices that noctis is so hyper aware of his plans. they think too alike at times, and something inside him thrums excited at the idea that despite ten long years, they still have such a close bond, just like they had as teens.]

[but regardless, prompto pulls a fast one, and instead of using the towel for any nefarious purpose, he instead takes hold on noctis' arm to keep him steady off the pool, and with his other hand he hands it over]

Here.

[He's practically ready to phase out of the way, but he's caught off guard when Prompto just walks up to him and... keeps him steady, hand on his arm. The towel is handed to him, and he just blinks down at it for now.]

I already have a towel. You know, the one wrapped around my waist.

[But he'll... take it, anyway. He supposes he could use it to dry off with later.]

I swear to the Six, I thought you were going to do something. Looking like a cat about to pounce.

Dude, I have a beautiful baby face, [he spent way too much time around hunters and gladio] I would never do anything untoward. [and that's ignis' influence on the vocabulary]

Let's hang out by that spot over there.

[he points the other end of the pool, letting go of noctis' arm, all smiles]

[He doesn't believe it for a whole second, but you know what? Noctis is more inclined to follow his lead, him being a fresh new face. It's that amiability brought on by being able to see him again -- to be with his best friend -- that makes him A Fool.

A fool that turn to look at that spot, with a new towel hanging over his arm.]

Then come on. What are you waiting for? Stop hanging around the entrance like a creeper, you're making everyone nervous.

[He jokes again as he begins to move...]

I was waiting for you!

[he sounds offended, a hand over his chest, but allowing noctis to move first. it isn't until the other is happily and innocently on his way, and prompto's a few steps behind, that he does]

[what he intended]

[from the start]

[you should have known better, noctis. there's no shield to protect you here.]

[a loud SMACK echoes across the sauna's walls, because prompto did not pull back on his. the playful butt smacking the prince might have been use to has now evolved into a hard smack for the king's royal ass. prompto's laughing and shaking the shock from his hand--that's how hard he went for.]

That's for callin' me a creeper!

[He had called Prompto a cat just moments before, but in reality... Noctis might as well be the feline, the way he jumps directly up in the air when Prompto's hand meets his ass. The sting is real. The pain is legit. The SMACK is loud and announcing to absolutely everyone what just transpired.]

Godsdammit, Prompto-!

[He nearly shouts, though his words echo in the area. He whirls on his feet, one hand rubbing at a butt cheek, the other... lashing out with the towel, aiming to hit his friend with it. Because towel revenge is the best revenge, right?]

I knew you wouldn't be able to resist. And in front of a room full of witnesses too!

[are they actually 30 years old...]

[prompto blocks the towel with his arm, but holds on to the end, laughing even louder now at the reaction]

I should've brought my camera!

[count your blessings, noctis]

You wanna fight me about it?!

[tugs at the towel]

What, you don't think I will?

[He's trying to sound annoyed, trying not to let that laughter burst through the cracks. It's difficult, the way his mouth is obviously trying not to smile and failing.

He yanks the towel forward, unexpectedly.]

Let go!

Woah--!

[he stammers forward, crashing into noctis (more than purposely), but he's not going to let go of the towel]

Hey, what gives?!

[he's laughing, pulling the towel back, both of them precariously close to the edge of the pool]

[Crashed into, it doesn't seem to bother him one bit. He just gives Prompto another playful push of the shoulder, and grips the towel even tighter.]

What gives is you giving back that weapon of mass destruction in your hands right now!

[Never mind that he wasn't technically hit by the towel, but the point still stands. He twists at it, a little, to the right. So what if they're close to the pool? It's Fine.]

[and prompto twists back, to his right, countering noctis. his knees are slightly bent, definitely in position to attack.]

Someone sounds a little scared.

What? You been growin' soft without someone to give you a good spankin' around?

[Uh huh. Look at Prompto, all coiled up like a spring. Noctis' grin turns a little wry, a little mischievous.]

You sure sound eager.

[What if he just...lets go. Will that sudden momentum swinging back towards Prompto be enough to knock him into the pool? Let us find out.]

[it does in fact send him reeling forward, caught suddenly by surprise. there's only a too-loud wail of despair from the blond before a splash!, signalling that he has, in fact, lost the towel war]

[he surfaces, shaking his head from water, pouting and immediately pointing an accusatory finger]

Y'used physics against me! This is class-A betrayal!

[He bursts into laughter almost the exact moment the sound of Prompto breaking water echoes throughout the area.

So much that he hunches over a little, trying to fit in words between all of it. To his best friend's credit, it's been a long time since he's laughed like this. It feels like ages, the way the sound tumbles out of him, like something strange and alien these days.

But he's not going to complain.]

You... [Pffft.] Like you wouldn't have... done the same thing!

You'd call it an act against the crown, knowin' you!

[he waddles over to the edge of the pool, but the calming effects of the sauna are getting to him, now that he's here in the water. and so he remains, arms crossed over the ledge, resting his head against a bicep]

...okay, I'll let you have this one. Just this once, though.

It would be an act against the crown, just because I said so.

[How's that for abuse of power? Ha.

Eventually, though, Noctis decides to sit by the poolside, dipping his legs into the water. He kicks a little at Prompto.]

[prompto closes his eyes as noctis decides to sit down. the kick at his side makes him crack one eye open, grinning a little.]

( Geez, what a pampered king we got. )

[did he think that 'out loud' on purpose? probably. he turns, to rest with his back against the wall of the pool, sinking only until his shoulders barely show, healed scars and bruises from the past ten years hidden under the warm waters.]

Insert context so that my pun about getting reeled in by you, my dude, makes sense.

[he splashes the water a bit] Get in. That burn on your ass probably needs it.

(Think that a little louder, why don't you?)

[But he just rolls his eyes and slips into the water. It feels good against his skin, which is quite distinctly unmarred compared to Prompto's. Something which he notices regardless, a scar or two of Prompto's peeking up over the surface of the water. His smile twitches just a little, the reality of all that his friend had been pulled from seeming to come to the surface once more.]

I, uh-

[Focus. Now's not the time.]

Pretty sure you just want to make fishing jokes at my expense.

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[ OPEN ] Hot Springs Episode!

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