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

[blue_ice]

That subject does in fact interest him. Kaiba carefully climbs back into the water, shivering pleasantly as he adjusts to the heat once more. It's still nice.

"...An interdimensional subway. I've done some work on the subject, but with that much time passing, it would've exceeded my initial plans."

He closes his eyes. "Did you ride it? What kinds of worlds did people travel to?"

[shadowslipping]

"I ride it quite regularly, actually, for my commute... ...it's interesting, but it was pure chance that the company took that path. The world at one point broke into four separated dimensions- when they became aware of the other, a war broke out... ...it just so happened that around the point that shadows began rising, and the war had ended, that they realized the technology once used to try and reach the dead could be perhaps repurposed to encourage that peace further..."

Well, isn't that just something then?

"...But in terms of other worlds...the realm of shadows- the 'duel monsters realm', you might call it, sits between the four. I've certainly seen that one as well."

[blue_ice]

"To reach the dead..." he echoes, an odd expression of guilt flickering across his face.

"That was the last thing I remember doing. I'd become...entangled with a pharaoh, whose spirit had ended up trapped in our time. Knowing him changed me, and we had a score left to settle. But he'd left without a word to me, as if I'd meant nothing to him."

Deep breath. "I couldn't let it end like that. So I followed him. And achieved closure of a sort. But it was incredibly risky, and I don't know if I made it back...or if I orphaned Mokuba again."

Another breath. "But at least the plans survived. That realm...it sounds incredible, or incredibly dangerous."

[shadowslipping]

"....I obviously can't speak for you, but at the very least, some version of you returned," she hums, before nodding slowly. "...I would say it's both- it's safe enough when you're on the train, passing through, but the few visits I've taken there have been tense; shadows are as varied as people, and then even more than that. Some are perfectly easy to get along with. Others will attack without warning."

...That said. "...A...pharaoh, though?"

She's trying very hard not to ask about what he saw there.