wound up

[blue_ice]

Who: Kaiba and open!
Where: Spa car
When: Imagination 4, very late at night
What: Someone gives into temptation to indulge and has potentially interesting discussions!
Warnings: Implied/possible mention of child abuse, other war/injury discussion possible. Will update if needed.



It's been...a day. Kaiba's spent time this evening working on how to talk to the others. It's clear as a train they need to regroup on a number of topics and make some changes, but how? And does he even want to try to facilitate? Not exactly his strong suit. He can already imagine the headache. He's sketched out a few potential outlines of topics to open the floor on. Maybe the memorial really is the simplest place to start?

But he's putting that out of his mind. After a late night in the standard car hunched over his notebook, he realizes that the train's fallen quiet in the night. Time to head back to bed. He moves through the largely-empty cars, but as the strange new scent of the spa car filters through in the corridor, he hesitates. The quiet is the perfect time, isn't it?

One ruffle through the closet and a quick shower trip later, he returns, carefully folding his legs beneath him as he sinks in. His torso's long enough that he's only covered up to the ribs and the old, angry red marks between his shoulder blades are exposed, but surely it's quiet enough that that's not an issue.

Finally...at last, he hears nothing but the sound of water lapping the edges of the pool. He can finally relax. He closes his eyes, rolling his shoulders back with a soft sigh.

"...hm. Not bad...maybe."

Comments

[namethattune]

Siebren is a bit amazed at how quickly he had come around to the idea of the spa. On his next sleepless night, he finds himself lying awake and thinking: he could walk the train, or he could try a soak and see if that relaxes him enough to try to sleep. There is, at least, novelty in the latter option.

He changes and heads to the spa car, wearing his swim trunks and hoodie. With any luck, it's late enough that he'll be alone in the car. If there is someone else there...well, perhaps he will be able to back out or pass through. That thought in mind, he opens the door, entering before he looks up-

Oh.

He should leave - it was what he had planned. But he recognizes Seto, even from behind- and those marks-

Perhaps...perhaps he is not as alone in this as he thinks.

Before he can make a decision, the door clicks audibly shut behind him.

[blue_ice]

This peace is...perfect, and welcome. He's breathing slowly, letting the warmth sink into his tired body, so relaxed that he's slowly stretching out.

And then there's a thump from the door. His arms immediately tense on the ledge and he pushes up, revealing that the faded long red lines run down the rest of his back. He swings right around to face...who? Oh. Right, he has to push his damp hair out of his eyes, it's getting too long.

There's Siebren, clearly ready for a relaxation session. Which is his right, of course, it's public space. Kaiba shifts awkwardly, feeling a strange burn of embarrassment at being caught unaware that he can't entirely explain. And it makes his youth more apparent than usual.

"I didn't think anyone else would come this late. But of course there'd be one among over a hundred. Come on."

And he folds his limbs, shifting to make room.

[namethattune]

He stays where he is as Seto shifts, rooted to the spot. There are too many of those marks, all in the same place, to be combat scars - either Seto is terribly unlucky or those were intentional-

Then Seto turns to face him, and the moment fades. He has seen Seto self-assured, recovering from injury, and exhausted, but he has never seen Seto look so...young.

It is on Siebren, then, to be reassuring, much as he dislikes being in this situation himself. Perhaps it will help. He hopes it will.

"Forgive the intrusion," he says, crossing the car, "I could not sleep." He removes his hoodie and folds it neatly, placing it against the wall and far away from any potential splash zone. "And unfortunately, statistical unlikeliness does not forestall occurrence. Life will have its way." Whether either of them like it or not.

He takes a breath and lets it out slowly - it is still so, so difficult to do this, even in front of someone who will likely understand - and turns to head towards the pool. He is unexpectedly fit for an older man with what would ostensibly be a desk job; he is also scarred himself, and it takes an act of will to not rest an arm across the worst of them. An old laceration traces his ribs, and another arcs over his collarbone and right shoulder; his left shoulder and abdomen both sport clusters of starburst scars - bullet wounds, and the incisions required to remove them. Scars have stories, and his speak of Sigma, a conversation he would much rather not have.

He sinks into the pool opposite Seto, doing his best to leave them both plenty of room - the dance of two very tall people in a shared space - and waits, unable to relax just yet.

[blue_ice]

"The odds are virtually never in my favor, I should know this by now," Kaiba answers, tired but managing to laugh the slightest bit at himself. Still, he waits. He doesn't mean to watch, but...those marks catch his eye.

Not only does that physique speak of power, the marks mean he's been tested in battle. If he wanted proof that Siebren was as capable as he claimed...well, here it was. Those are marks of someone who's battled to the brink and survived...strength, not weakness.

Yet even as socially stunted as Seto is, he doesn't miss that Siebren is feeling the tension too. Could it be that he didn't want to be seen either?

Possibly. So he settles in, shifts his legs to give the other man space, and speaks.

"So how did your long night go?"

[namethattune]

It seems that Seto is not interested in talking about it. For a moment, Siebren wants to reach out to Seto, inquire, let him know of their common ground-

But Seto has eyes, and a brain, and has likely already figured that out himself. Siebren has already interrupted his relaxation time; he runs the risk of driving Seto away if he continues in that vein, and that is the last thing he wants to do.

So he rests his back against the pool wall and takes another deep, slow breath, in and out. He knows their conversational trajectory; perhaps he can relax now.

"Slowly," he replies, "and not well." Some nights, he has too much to think about but sleeps anyway; tonight had been the opposite, with cohesive thought escaping him but his brain still unwilling or unable to shut off. "I had hoped a soak would help me relax well enough to sleep, and...I had also thought no one else would be here this late." A very small, wry smile creeps across his face. "Had I known, I likely would not have come, but...here we are.

"How has your night been?"

[blue_ice]

Kaiba finds himself relaxing a little. Maybe too soon, but...though he doesn't know the man well yet, he's...fine. The low-key energy is very much appreciated.

"I was training with my knives," he starts. "If the usual schedule holds, another mission is coming in a few days. Every other mission is dangerous for our team, it seems, and the last one wasn't, so...it's a possibility that I'll need them."

Deep breath.

"But I'm happy to be quiet if that's what you need. I'm...fine either way, I just don't like crowds. Or prying eyes."

[namethattune]

Weapons training. It makes sense, to want to become more proficient in combat when one's team requires protection. Not everyone comes prepared - not everyone has Siebren's...particular situation. He listens, and ponders his reply when Seto pauses and then continues-

...oh. He had been correct, at least to some extent.

Siebren sighs and sinks a bit further down into the water, tension he was not aware he had been holding onto melting from his shoulders. "I am alright with conversation," he says after a few moments. "I simply...do not like questions, from those that do not understand."

Present company, it seems, excluded.

[sos_pilot]

Della's not much of a spa person - but she's been linked with Kaiba mentally, and as such, feels a compulsion to head there.

She doesn't head inside - he might value privacy, after all, and instead leans on the walls just outside of the bath, lightly knocking on the doorway without entering.

"Hey, Seto."

[blue_ice]

"...Della?"

Seto feels her presence a moment before he hears her voice, and so he's already lifting himself out. He takes a moment before opening the door, wearing bright orange trunks and the towel over his shoulders. He spares her a little smile.

"Coming for a late night bath, or am I thinking too hard again?"

[sos_pilot]

"The latter. Not much of a soak person." Off-hand shrug, no shame about it.

"So... anything you wanna talk about?" Eyebrow raise? Or does he want to brush this off and act like nothing happened?

[blue_ice]

Seto knows he can trust Della with this, at least. Whatever 'this' is. He feels some slight guilt for bothering her, so he moves to let her in.

"We have lounge chairs past the pool, next to the sauna. It's comfortable enough for a talk."

He leads the way, feeling the slightest bit of unease as his back faces her, but it's just a quick moment and then they're side by side.

"It's almost time for a mission. I've been up training for it, but it never feels like enough. Do you know what I mean?"

[sos_pilot]

Della followed along, watching his face for any hints or clues about underlying issues.

"I do. I mean, you can prepare as much as you want, but it's impossible to predict everything. That's part of the thrill!" A brief pause. "... Buuut I can get why that might make others, y'know, anxious."

At least she was learning to stick her foot in her mouth less often.

[blue_ice]

Seto paused to tie the towel around his waist, lowering himself onto the chair with a little tired sigh. He was feeling a little better, but...

"I acquired some knives last platform, in the event that we're ambushed like at the research center. I know I can fight my way out of most issues, but I can't control everything."

He leaned forward, elbows propped on his knees. "Every month, the list of people I'd hate to lose grows longer. And that's a huge liability."

[shadowslipping]

Yuume suffice to say, tends to go to bed late. One could make jokes about hosts of darkness and whatnot, but ultimately the fact is simply that she has the tendency to get caught up in whatever has her focus. That having been in this case, her gym training.

Which of course meant a late shower, and of course, having heard there's now a hot tub, and determining it's too late for anyone in particular to be using it...

"...Ah."

Yuume, making use of towel and clean gym clothes, stares. "...Sorry, I didn't realize anyone was..."

awkward...

[blue_ice]

You'd think Seto would learn after the first few nights. But no...here he is late at night once more, indulging in a soak with his back turned. Once again, the door opens, and it takes a second but he recognizes his...great-great-grandniece's voice? Was that right?

And she's facing his back. Depending on how much she knows of their family history, this could be Bad. But...

He takes a steadying breath and shifts around to the side, looking up at her with a tired but not unwelcoming expression. Maybe she'll surprise him...and he did want to get to know her better.

"It's public space. You came all the way here...might as well. If I'm not bothering you."

[shadowslipping]

There's too many greats to really keep track of, ultimately- even her own family gave up on that one. As it stands, Yuume looks quite awkwardly put upon the spot as the one who walked in. Her eyes couldn't help but catch those scars either- scars she's not very much avoiding looking at. "Ahh...th..that is true I suppose...I had hoped not to disturb anyone however," she mutters, coming toward the water all the same. "...You're not bothering me. All I came to do was sit for a short while after all..."

[blue_ice]

"Then sit. The water's fine, I assure you."

Seto awkwardly shuffles his limbs to make room for her, very consciously aware of what she's seen. Does she know enough to guess...? He doesn't think so, judging by what she said at the meeting, but it's possible.

Deep breath. He's...somewhat prepared for that.

"You're not much of a sleep person either?"

[shadowslipping]

Well, she won't refuse at least- slipping into the water and leaning back with a small sigh. "Mnh? ...Ahh... ...I'll admit to having troubles with sleep typically, but truth be told I've slept quite well since arriving here..."

To be fair she doesn't know that the train literally knocks them out every night...but still.

"...I got rather caught up in training is all- I was working with a punching bag of sorts." She sort of had to make a mock-up, but it worked!

[blue_ice]

"With how cramped the cabins are? How fortunate..."

But Seto doesn't push the issue. He watches her curiously, idly flexing his fingers over the water. There's still so much hanging between them, but he can deal with it one issue at a time.

"I had my own makeshift targets---I've stocked up on knives, as continuing to throw my cards isn't the most practical idea."

To say the least. "You're prepared for death-defying on missions, then?"

[mynameisallen]

Allen honestly had planned to never use the spa, but he also he knew that he would get yelled at by a few people if he didn't try and take better care of himself either.

He was honestly trying at least that was always his thought. So he figured that he might as well try the spa while it was quiet. If he ended up doing something dumb then no one would know right?

Wrong. When he first entered he soon found himself pausing for a brief moment.

"I guess others had the same idea of coming here at night, huh?"

[blue_ice]

Kaiba sighed...that was really the only response he could muster up to this by now. But that was all right. He carefully shifted to the side, looking up at the vaguely familiar face.

"Apparently. And we have our reasons..."

A vague reference, and then he curled up a bit. "Come on, there's room."

[mynameisallen]

"Apparently so... Though I think mine might be a different reason than everyone else's, but all are probably very good reasons." For Allen himself it's mostly due to the fact he finds other things to do during the day and also quiet was just always nice and so was better at night or the evening.

But Allen at least was being polite and taking the offer, finally removing the polo that he had been wearing and revealing his own scars on his torso and made it more obvious about the fact his left arm was a completely different color from the rest of him.

Allen didn't seem shy about it either as he got in and leaned back slightly as from the polo a golden golem climbed out and was soon on top of his head once again.

"Sometimes you kind of forget how relaxing this type of thing can be."

[blue_ice]

"I never knew how to relax. Didn't really have time, with what I was doing."

Kaiba rolled his shoulders back, wincing a little at the tension in them. But that was fine, he was here to get better after all. He gave Allen an accepting nod, his focus mainly drifting to the golem.

"Brought a friend?"

[mynameisallen]

"I guess I'm not the only one who never knew how to relax then." And someone who came across as his age to. Was... that just a normal thing and he didn't realize it. Sure back home teenagers were always busy because well they were fighting and doing missions with their lives on the line.

"Timcampy tends to come with me no matter where I go. He's used to being around 24/7 at this point." he answered moving his hand to nudge the golem slightly as he flapped his wings before settling again.

"You need a wash at some point Timcampy."

[blue_ice]

Seto watches the golem with a small smirk.

"It's not that bad. Not too hot...come on, your friend doesn't want to carry you around if you smell."

An attempt at dry humor. He tilts his head, regarding Allen once more.

"I'm Kaiba. I don't...think we've met?"