abraxaslogs | [closed] dancing on the wind

[ The rude exclamation from Nero and the ripe smell hit Thancred at precisely the same moment, causing him to wrinkle his nose for two different reasons. He sees no reason why Nero should be so upset, but then the mistake becomes clear. Thought you were someone else.

It doesn't take an eminent scholar of the Studium to know who that must be.

After all, Thancred's the one who Nero's desperate message had made it to, rather than Dante. Why does this keep happening? Their hair may be a similar shade and length (Dante's is a bit shaggier and unkempt), but they don't look so alike. Do they? ]

... Briefly, on the island. Though I would forgive you for not noticing. I can hardly imagine your mental state at the time.

[ Not to mention Thancred and Himeka had been quick to enter the tunnels through the secret passage Nero himself had taken out, in order to collect their Elezen. He'd only seen Nero in passing, even if they'd exchanged some more lighthearted messages prior to that. ]

You thought I was Dante, I presume? [ He may as well address the coeurl in the room. Thancred gestures for Nero to join him in the baths; there's little need to be shy, as far as he's concerned. ] He's quite fond of the Thorne baths. 'Twas a reasonable assumption to make.

Oh. [Genuine surprise does cross Nero's face. Fuck. That was not a good time for him. Pretty sure he's actually forgotten a lot of it. Weird, for him. It's not like it was traumatic. Not the worst thing that'd ever happened to him.]

Just forgetful, that's all.

[Not like him, either.

Nero shrugs, moving towards the water. He might not exactly be into anyone watching him bathe, but at this point he'd prefer being clean over pretty much anything else right now. The towel drops, but before it his the ground he's in the water, sinking into it.] Dante? Takin' baths? [He scoffs.] Probably 'cause he's not paying for them.

[Dante's not exactly a guy who puts a lot of emphasis on hygiene. After a tense moment, Nero doesn't look over, but he does address Thancred again:] If you were on the island... you get everyone you went for?

[ In truth, Thancred does not know Nero well enough to guess at whether or not he is actually forgetful or if he's simply saying that to not have to address all that he'd been through in the pit, but he isn't going to push the issue.

Whether or not he senses Nero's awkwardness about bathing in public, Thancred remains casual from his spot already in the water, not staring but also not pointedly looking away. It's the best way to set someone at ease, and he's used to such things after spending time with Urianger, who was always a bit of a nervous bather. ]

Yes, he does seem to enjoy that Thorne grants us aught that we need without expecting much in return. Not that I can entirely blame him.

[ But Thancred moved out of the castle for a rather specific reason. He'd rather not eat from Thorne's hands any more than is necessary.

At Nero's question, Thancred draws in a breath and lets it out again. ] I was there to ensure that all of you made it to safety, but yes, there was a dear friend among your group. It was a good thing Himeka and I were there, as he is not what you'd call a strong swimmer.

[ Come to think of it, Dante hadn't been part of the group who went to the island. He doesn't point that out, unclear as to whether or not it would be a sore spot. ]

[About the last place he wants to have a conversation is naked with anyone else, but he's gonna get this snake gore off of him or die trying. (Did he consider how he's about to make the bath real fuckin' dirty? Nope. Isn't that the point?)

He dumps handfuls of water over his head, his mostly copper hair now leaking to white as he scrubs blood out of it. The acid burns across his skin begin healing as the acid's washed away.

Nero pauses for a second. Aught that we need? Right. He forgot Mario Kart talks weird.]

Right. You're some kind of hero or something. [His snort isn't entirely generous, but he does get it. Plenty of people tried. And he does trust Thancred got his message to Dante in the end, even if Dante didn't do shit for him. So at least the guy's reliable -- not to mention not bad with a sword.] No kidding. I've seen her swim. Like a damn fish. Don't tell me you guys carried 'em onto the turtle?

[ Thancred somehow manages to refrain from making a face as he watches the copper color wash out of Nero's hair and off of his body. More interesting than some grime, however, is the way that he heals at an alarming rate, right before his eyes. Yet this seems to be something Nero's body is doing on its own rather than with the assistance of any healing magic. It's quite the trick.

Thancred raises an eyebrow at being called "some kind of hero," his immediate instinct to protest such a title. ] Himeka certainly earns that moniker, but I would hesitate to apply it to myself. Feels a bit presumptuous. [ And he's far from perfect.

On the other hand, they did save the universe. But that's neither here nor there at the moment. Thancred cups some water in one hand and then draws it back through his hair to wet it, having heard that it should create a nice luster. ]

We carried Urianger to safety first, yes, and then focused on anyone else who was suffering to stay afloat. I assume Himeka's told you about her hometown?

Like every good hero would.

[Not that he blames Thancred. How cringe is it to call yourself a hero? Besides -- he doesn't actually disagree. He may be all spikes and snarls to most people, but Nero's not ever said a bad word about Himeka. And he's seen pieces of her memories. She does have that whole heroic thing going for her.

A realistic one. Considering she's also a ditz and a glutton. But those are things you gotta love about her.

He wishes he could've seen her hauling some guy onto a giant turtle, though. It just would've been hilarious. (Not that the fact people were drowning was funny. Nero dragged enough people out of the flooding cave as it was.)]

You mean the fact she lived like a mermaid? Yeah, I've heard some bits. About her oyster -- er, clam bed. [He still doesn't really remember the difference.] You been to it?

[ No hero is going to be perfect, and Himeka's ability to remain down to earth and not let all the praise and attention go to her head is why she's been able to continue accomplishing such incredible things. That, and she's never been the sort to insist on going it alone, always reaching out to her friends for assistance.

Living like a mermaid? That's one way to put it, though as far as Thancred's aware, mermaids are little more than tall tales, no doubt ones that were inspired by the people of Sui-no-Sato themselves. ]

I haven't been, no, but I did walk through one of her memories here from when she was a child and was therefore able to see it in a sense.

[ A glimpse of what Himeka's life had been like when she was young, hearing the warnings from the water elementals yet with no context for how or why.

Thancred shifts in the water, leaning his arms back to rest on the edge of the bath. ]

My only point being, she's a very strong swimmer, and able to hold her breath quite well. I'm not so bad myself, so we were the right people for that particular job. I presume you also managed well enough?

[Now that catches Nero's more pointed interest. As much as he likes chattin' about his friends, he's not really interested in seeming like he's going behind her back to gather info on her, either. But that -- walked through her memory -- it's like what happened to them when he first came here. The whole reason he really fell in with Wanda and Himeka.]

That's just something you guys do where you're from? Memory walkin'?

[So why'd it happen to him? The way Himeka mentioned it, it was like something that only happened to her. And when they'd touched, it just... expanded.

Something about that picks at his brain. He can't figure out what, though.]

Oh, yeah. That? I know. We went swimmin' after the cruise. Caught a huge tuna. It was awesome. [He squeezes water from his hair, though it's short enough, ruffling the white locks around.] I don't live underwater, but I swim fine. Helped my strength came back a little at that point. To help the others out.

No, it was something that happened here. Caused by the Singularity, so far as anyone could tell. [ Thancred can't quite recall if Nero was here at that time, so he can understand the confusion. Especially when considering Himeka's particular gift. ] That being said, I imagine she's told you of the Echo by now.

[ Or maybe she's even had a bout of it in his presence, given that they live together. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's often enough that Thancred can only imagine Nero's heard of it or seen it.

When Nero speaks of swimming with Himeka when they went on that cruise, Thancred can't help but smile. It's easy to see why the two of them became friends, hearing this sort of thing.

Nero speaks of a strength that returned once he was free of the cult's influence, meaning it's a power greater than that of a regular person. That isn't particularly surprising to hear, given that he'd conducted himself not unlike a Warrior or Dark Knight when they fought that panther creature in the Horizon together. ]

It's a relief we were able to rescue the grand majority of you, given all the chaos. [ He pauses, lifting a dripping hand to grip his chin in thought. ] What's strange is that there's been no sign of the massive creature that broke free from the island, even still.

Right. [He was here, but that was definitely before he really. Got. The whole Singularity thing.] Yeah. It happened to us. Me and her, I mean. She saw some of my memories. And I saw one of hers.

[A nice bit of shared trauma between friends. But it really did get them somewhere, so...]

It's weird as fuck, right? I mean, far as I understand, it like... telepathically asked to be let free or whatever. But the only place something that size could be is under the ocean. Haven't heard a chirp about someone sighting it off the coasts, tho, or from the mountains... and that's not even trying to figure out how it got stuck in the pit in the first place. It sounded like it was on purpose. Like someone trapped it down there.

Himeka is one the few people here who had prior experience with such things. Seeing another's memories, that is. [ Sharing her own, not so much, and it must have been odd for her to be on the other end of that process. Even now, Thancred wonders if the Echo somehow resonated with the Singularity, but it's doubtful they'll ever find out for certain.

Thancred's brow twitches as Nero posits the possibility that the massive creature that escaped the island cavern had been trapped down there for some nefarious purpose. As far as he's aware, none of the questioning of Josselyn or her people netted a satisfying answer to that question. ]

With our luck, it will resurface at the worst possible moment. [ He smiles tightly, then shakes his head. ] It's not the only unanswered question I have, either. Geralt said I might be able to ask you about some odd tracks I discovered while working to find where you'd all been taken. [ Thancred straightens up from his more relaxed pose, briefly distracted by the slight shimmer on his skin now. So what they say about these baths is true, then. ] Did you see any tracks on the island, whether left by the cultists or some creature there, that were completely smooth? No treads of any kind?

[A power that fuckin' sucks ass, if you ask him, especially if she can't control it -- which, as far as he's seen, she can't. Like it just happens sometimes, thrown at her like a coconut from behind, without warning. Knocking her brain around. (Might explain some things.)]

Goddamn hope so. I need some action. [Even if it's to fight the giant gave guy. Not that he seemed particularly demonic or human-hungry, but. You know. There's a chance.

Nero pauses in his scrubbing to frown, his white brows drawn together.] Geralt told you to ask me about tracks? He knows I'm not a tracking guy. [Not that kind of track. Though -- all right, so he's done a little, and learned more than he ever wanted to, mostly through osmosis of hanging out with Aloy so much on their kill runs. (Animals and kidnappers, not people.)

Nero looks up at the ceiling as he tries to think back. There was obviously a lot of shit happening, but the one thing he does care about is getting more answers about what happened there. Because he still... not all of it makes sense. Hell, most of it doesn't.] I could have, man, but seriously, I don't know if I'd remember. Maybe if you showed me in the Horizon or somethin'. It was completely flat, but like... human? Like a G.I. Joe foot? [Huh. Sure, it sounds weird, but he's seen demons with freakier feet.] Where'd you find these tracks?

[ While some might take offense at Nero hoping that an opportunity to fight something might reveal itself, Thancred can understand to some degree. It's never comfortable, feeling as if one is sitting idle. Thancred also likes when he can put his skills to use, even if that means that unpleasant things are happening. It's not that he hopes they will, so much as he understands that it's inevitable in most cases.

In that sense, Abraxas and Etheirys are quite similar.

Not a tracking guy, Nero says. Thancred doesn't lose hope just yet, as there's still a chance that something will have stuck in Nero's mind, even if tracking isn't his forte. Nor does he blame him for tracks being the last thing on his mind in all that confusion. Instead of shutting it down completely, Nero poses a few more questions. ]

I could even show you outside. I recreated one for Geralt. [ He has no idea what "G.I. Joe" is, but he's just going to breeze past that for now. ] Yes, more or less human-sized, but completely smooth. [ He draws out a vague shape with his hands. ] I found a set in Thorne, outside of any of the major settlements, and then another set in the forests of Solvunn when I was investigating mushroom rings with Himeka.

[ While he was using Nero's room, at that, but he won't bring up such a sore spot now. ]

Oh. Yeah? [He perks up. Nero's like a fish on a hook when the idea of doing something, especially solving apparent goddamn mysteries, pops up. Even better if it'll help Geralt out... or figure out something Geralt couldn't.] Sweet. Do that when we're dry.

[He's already finishing scrubbing up, now that the snake's blood and acid is all cleaned off. He's feeling fresh as a fiddle, and now he's even got a little shit to look after, even if --

Even if his shoulders tense at mushroom ring. He is not. Fuckin' scared. Of fungus.] Good. If she saw 'em too, that means she knows where they are. [Which means he can follow up. Fat chance they're still there, but whatever made them could be.] I don't got shit to do. I'll see if I can find more.

[ Thancred nods as he drags a hand back through his hair to dislodge some of the water, sensing that Nero is eager to get out of the baths now that he's been given a task, even if it's one he can only follow up on once they're returned to their respective factions. ]

Aye, she should be able to show you to the general area. Whether or not there are any more of them will certainly tell us something. As you can imagine, it's a bit more of an ordeal for me to try to return to that specific part of Thorne.

[ They're not allowed to travel that far afield unless under special circumstances. He could take the portal to Borrel and see if he could get away with riding out from there, but he'll see what Nero comes up with first.

With that, he stands up out of the bath and reaches for his nearby towel, wrapping it around his waist. His body and hair shimmer with the special properties of the fey water, and he can't help but think there's a time when he could have put this sort of effect to good use, while charming fine ladies into sharing sensitive information with him.

A different time, and a different him, or so it feels to him. ]

[Nero is eager; Thancred's nailed him there. Anything to get out of sitting around at parties. It's about the one thing he can't stand doing here (and yet he keeps coming, anyway. Sue him.)

He hops out and very quickly wraps up himself in a towel, maybe weirdly modest for someone who talks like he does. Wanda's helped keep his hair short, though, and it just takes some rubbing with a hand to get most of the water out.]

Yeah, I bet. Heard they keep you on a tight leash over there. [Sounds shitty, if you ask him. He never would've made it. Might've blown a hole through a roof just to escape. He has no idea how Dante puts up with it, and he doesn't ask.]

Come find me when you're decent and we'll get this show on the road. [He's way beyond ready to get out of this place. Between Lucifer and that fuckin' snake eating him (admittedly, kind of cool) he's almost missing Solvunn.]

[closed] dancing on the wind

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now we can wrap! 🎀