After their grueling battle in the hedge maze, Kithe and Clover enter the cafe. Kithe with a few bruises and a torn shirt and Clover with a wrapping covering a deep gash in her shoulder. Kithe has his arm around Clover's waist as they slowly, with sore and tired bodies, move through the shop and into the changing rooms. After a moment or so, they reappear and walk into the spa area, searching for an empty pool where they can be by themselves.

"I can't believe all that. All that just came out of nowhere. I thought that winged beast was going to pick me right off the ground when it latched into my shoulder." She lightly touches the freshly bandaged area as she walks into the hot pool, slowly letting her muscles untense. She turns to look at Kithe, admiring his physique. The impressive build that was able to bust through the vines with a simple flex. She can feel her memory rush her blood just as it had in the present.

Kithe follows Clover along the paths of the spa, and the man gives a pleasant wave to the people he can see in the pools they pass by. Daemin, Aurora, Sevin--to name a few. His gaze drifts back to the figure in front of him as she walks, and warmth blossoms in his chest. 

Seeing her in combat is something he has always found alluring. His memory spirals back to that moment in the Arena, over a year ago now, when he first laid eyes on her. The way she took command of the battlefield, teaching her young student about the merits of solid strategy while simultaneously demonstrating just how much he had lft to learn. When she laid down on the fighting grounds after that, staring up at the sky as she rested, Kithe knew he had to approach her. Someone with that much fire and conviction deserved to be complimented. Plus, she was gorgeous. 'And just look how far we've come...'

He leans on the edge of the partition surrounding the pool, watching as she sinks into the hot water. Listening to her, he nods, his golden gaze never leaving her as the spa envelopes her body. "It's what we were preparing for. What you were preparing me for, I should say." After admiring the view for another few moments he wades in, letting out an involuntary sigh as the heat soothes the tension in his muscles. "You handled yourself skillfully, as ever, Captain," he croons, the corner of his mouth lifting in a flirtatious smile. "I was glad I could be there to support. And if that beast had dared to carry you off, you know I'd have been in the air in a second." 

She smirks and feels an excitement zip through her at the sound of 'captain'. She wasn't going to get tired of that anytime soon. She wades over to him and places her hands on his bare chest, pressing her body against his as she looked up into his eyes. "You were amazing, dear. I just slashed through like mad-rabbit. But, you were the reason we won today, Mr. Kane. You controlled the battlefield so well...But, I guess that is always what you've been good at." She says with a sultry whisper at the end. Her fingers tracing the bruises that appeared along his skin.

"I mean it. If you weren't there, I am not sure what I would have done. We made such a great team." She says as she lays an ear to his chest, listening to the very familiar thump thump of his heart. After so long, listening, she knows it better than her own beating heart. "Thump-thump...thump-thump." She muses as they continue to stand in the hot pool. 

As she presses to him, he curls his arms around her, hands resting beneath the water in the small of her back. He rubs his fingers along the soft, wet fur of her back as she lays her ear against his chest. "And where would I be without you to front line?" he murmurs, sliding one hand up along her back to rest it on her neck. He strokes gently with his thumb as she goes on. "High praise, coming from the one who taught me all the strategy I know. Thank you. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm sure: having you at my side makes me feel like I can face anything." The tone of her whisper sends thrilling little shivers along his spine.

They fall into a comfortable silence, and he looks down at her, knowing what she's doing before she even speaks. Hearing her words in tandem with the beat of his heart pushes that flirtatious smirk into a broader smile. He squeezes her closer in response, careful of her wounds as he does so.

He moves along to an even deeper part of the pool. Here, smooth stone benches line the edges of the spa. Kithe guides Clover to one of these and eases them both into a sitting position, keeping one arm wrapped around her. His hand on the back of her neck slides to her chin, tilting her face up so he can lean down into a soft kiss.

The feeling of his hands on her back. Nothing in the world makes he feel safer than being in his arms. Hands that always seem to know when and where they are  needed. Feeling them on the small of back and then glide up to the back of her neck, she feels sheltered and at peace. Then the tight squeeze she feels, she only wants to sink deeper into his body. She feels herself carried away as they move to the deeper end until she comes to rest on the smooth bench. The hand now holding her chin seems to have all control of her being as she watches Kithe lean in for the kiss.

With the warm water relaxing her body, Kithe's strong body sturdy against her, and his lips pressed into hers, she feels enraptured in euphoria she doesn't want to end. She brings her hands up and places them on the sides of his face, softly caressing his skin. Her hands slip up and around his neck, now wrapped in her arms. Her shoulder burns but she does everything she can to ignore it at this moment. She pulls away from the kiss for a moment and places her forehead against his. "I never want to be anywhere but at your side. We will never have to hunt alone again. I love you, Kithe. And there isn't any sort of corruption in this world that will ever change that. Let them come and try!" She snorts with the smile. 

His eyes close as she caresses his face, and he presses further into the kiss, making a quiet noise in the back of his throat. When she wraps her arms around his neck, his hand moves to her shoulder almost instinctively, the briefest worry for her injuries creasing his brow. As she draws back, his eyes roam her expression, searching her in the few seconds before she speaks. As their foreheads rest together, he listens. A quiet chuckle follows her words. "I love you. So very much," he responds, the weight in his words signaling agreement with everything she said.

As they sit entwined in the pool, Kithe can feel the waters of the spa seeping into his bruises. The ache begins to truly subside, in a way that makes him quizzical of the water's properties. He's been informed that Alqamar is a healer, so perhaps the spa has been infused with some of that magic. In any case, it makes him very happy to know Clover's wounds should be abated by this. She had taken the brunt of the damage in their battle, after all.

"It's funny," he muses after a moment, "I don't think I ever could have been prepared for that by training in the Arena." He pauses, collecting his thoughts before continuing. "There's so much I never would've learned without going abroad with you...I know I've already told you, but even with everything that went wrong, I wouldn't change a second of it." His smile turns nostalgic as he settles his back against the smooth stone, one arm still curled tenderly about her. "Silence-Among-Trees would've loved a fight like that, I think," he speaks in Culiprai of one of Clover's younger brothers, "If there's one of your family members who matches you in-- um," he frowns a little, breaking back into Common as he can't recall the word he's looking for, "Ferocity, I suppose, I'd say he'd be the one." 

Feel his hand move to her shoulder, she winces for a moment in the expectation of pain but finds that the burning sensation of an open wound is slowly fading. She took it for relaxation more than anything. But she is pretty sure much like everywhere else, there were certainly magical properties in this place. "The Arena is too controlled at times. Sometimes you can only learn certain things when things get wild like they did for us. I managed to learn a few things as well. But, that is the most important thing to always remember. No matter how long you have been travelling, there is always something to learn." 

She listens as Kithe moves into Culiprai. Hearing his smooth and ever-so powerful voice speak her language always makes her heart feel like it is on edge of exploding. The mention of her brother makes her nod. Seeing him after so long almost felt surreal but that could be said of any of her family. She will have to make the effort to visit more. Especially after everything that happened. "Tiger's-breath..." She says, bringing the word Kithe has been looking for, to mind. "And, yes, I think he would have enjoyed it, but I think he would have been too competitive. But, to be honest, we've both always been that way. We were always the sorest loser if either of us loss against each other." She goes quiet as she thinks about her family and how Kithe is now a part of that family for her. Getting them to meet him was almost more important than getting him to meet them for Clover. 

Rushing in from the gardens, a scorched, bleeding and sizzling Izzy peels off her armor as she strides straight past everyone and dead-drops herself into an empty healing spa with a splash.

An old and exasperated knight lets out a sigh watching another run in. "Does no one at least have the decency to recognize this is still a public establishment?" Leandros grumbles to himself as he picks up the armor to collect and clean it.

"I hope the pool is enough for her, she looked pretty beat up. What in gods names happened? She was on ballista, I didn't think they got hit," Maisie mutters as she toddles off to check on Izzy.

Alqamar looks over at Maisie "It should be enough if not i can heal them."

"Nothing grevious, she'll live." He huffed, putting a hand on his back with a small groan as he set the armor aside. "My back won't though that's for sure."

"Blurbrlrrrurruurbl" Izzy says from under the water. She emerges after about thirty seconds with a gasp, curly hair hanging straight down to her waist, her clothing soaked. She makes an aggravated noise and leans back to float. "Oooowww stupid... plaaaant."

"Plant? What happened, Izzy?" Maisie asks.

"hrrrgrghhhh...." The black marks that scorched her skin from where the corruption poison made contact start to recede. The air around her still smells faintly of acrid smoke. "Big vine was leaking some clear liquid shit and locked me in a vine cage and poisoned and burned me and there were like... twenty of these.. cute twiggy things. But I did it." She slaps the water. "Burnt that shit to a crisp. Bet they didn't see a magic dagger coming. Haaaaa."

"Oh dear. But where, Izzy? The gates? No one else mentioned...er...cute twiggy things?" Maisie is clearly confused, probably partly because of Izzy's explanation and partly because she's already a little befuddled.

"Gardenssssss." Izzy seethes.

"Oh." Rather tame and useless comment, but all she can muster "Things are invading....the garden? Well, Phoebe was expecting something like this, I think."

"Things're invading all over the place." She flails a hand. "It's a war, man, it's as invasive as it gets. Sometimes you gotta burn down a garden a little bit with a molotov to get rid of enemies. 'S just how it is."

"Not criticizing. Well done, in fact. The vines apparently ended up well done, if you burned them." She smiles.

"Yes! Thank you. And the gardens only burned a littttle bit." She holds up her hand and the space between her thumb and fore finger is very small.

Alqamar looks over at Izzy "Do let me know if you need any additional healing."

She turns her head to address the person who spoke. "Thanks m--" Seeing WHO just spoke, she thrashes, losing her buoyancy and sinking beneath the water. Izzy shoots back up a second later staring wide-eyed, almost accusingly, at the big, demon man, nearby. Emphasis on big. She spits a little water out of her mouth and glowers. ".....Hello. You are tall." Green eyes narrow slightly. "Whooooo are you."

"That's the one," Kithe responds, snapping his fingers in recollection, "Tiger's-breath, I'll remember it next time." He tilts his head back against the stones of the spa, resting comfortably as she talks about her brother. He lets out a laugh at the comment about being a sore loser. "Raspberries blown all around, I'll bet," he murmurs, letting his eyes close with a soft sigh.

He had been so nervous to meet Clover's family. The visit was not without it's low points, as trying to naviagte a wholly new culture is daunting for anyone. Add to that the pressure of meeting his Entangled-Concomitant's family for the first time? Being an absolute ball of nerves seemed the only sensible option. Thankfully he survived, and treasured the memories formed in her village.

They sit in silence for some time, enjoying the water's warm embrace, and the comfort found in each other's bodies. The silence wouldn't last forever, though. The sound of pieces of armor clattering to the floor echoes through the spa. Eyes snapping open at the noise, Kithe noticed the streak of scorched tiefling zooming past to the next empty pool, followed by a resounding splash. The incubus lets out a quiet chuckle in response to the commotion, then leans down to kiss Clover's cheek. 

"Never a dull moment in the Nexus," he says as he slips his arm back from around her shoulders, sliding down into the water until all is covered except his nose and upward. He rotates to look at her with a playfully arched eyebrow as he drifts backwards and away from her, toward the center of the pool.

Alqamar has a look of realization "My apologizes we havnt meet im Alqamar the Master of Medicine her at the Spa."

Her eyes continue to narrow. "....You're very tall." Izzy says again.

Alqamar looks at Izzy confused and slightly nervous "I am pretty tall"

"How. Tallllll?"

Alqamar looks confused "Are you asking how tall I am or how am I this tall?"

"Yessssssss."

Alqamar fidgets a bit "Well in this form I think I'm about 7'8'. It's just how this form is."

"GOD.... DAMMIT." Izzy holds her breath and drops under the water. There is an angry stream of bubbles that burbles from the depths for a while.

Alqamar flinches back at the yell before just watching Izzy go underwater he looks around confused hoping someone has an answer for him.

Maisie just shrugs

She shoots out of the water after a minute with a gasp, her hair hanging in her face and three words. "I NEED STILTS."

Sevin looks at the new exchange in also confusion, but at least the newest annoyingly tall person was looking all healed up now.

Alqamar slowly realizes the situation almost choosing to switch to his tiefling form before shrugging and choosing the stay in his Mayhem form.

"Some sorcerers have magic that can make them grow taller," The tiefling offered the stranger, hefting herself up to sit back in the water again.

Izzy swivels her head over to the red skinned tiefling, eyes narrowed slightly. ".....Okay but. Is it like. Permanent though. And how tall we talkin'?"

"Oh yes, raspberries were very common. Fights over the rules of sacred-bucket and the like. He could never get over how much better at it I was." She says was a childish confidence before being drawn to the commotion of clanging metal and a sprinting tiefling. She is then caught by surprise at Kithe's kiss on her cheek. She turns back to him and watches as he sinks down into the water and drifts away as if beckoning her to follow. She gives her own raised brow. 'Oh, what is he getting at now.' She chuckles to herself.

She touches her injured shoulder to feel the condition of it and finds only a minor soreness. She lifts the bandage to find it is mostly just a scar now. She quickly pulls it off and throws it to the floor next to the pool and watches Kithe as she slowly dips down in a similar way to him, following him cautiously, waiting to see him make a move. The soothing waters seem to give her energy and feels eager for a little play after a whole lot of work.

As she watches him, she feels that never extinguished warmth in her heart. Getting to work as a team was such a rewarding experience. The past year had been a rough tumbling as they had to jump through hoop after hoop, just in the hopes to get home and all of it had been done through the sheer will of their collective determination to keep each other safe. But, to finally have the true moment where they could feel perfectly in synch, like a well-oiled machine...It finally feels like something she hasn't had since Carvis passed. A true partner in battle. She knew that her and Kithe were destined to be together forever, but that is different than what they experienced out on the field. To feel that sort of connection was important for Clover's peace of mind. It calmed her to know Kithe and her are on the same wavelength in a tense moment. It truly fulfilled the promise of Entangled-Concomitant and everything it is supposed to mean. She finally understand how it feels.

Aurora leans down, only her head breaching the water. Her eyes remain on the other tiefling and she smiles, "Oh, it's permanent! But the caveat is..... well, it's the Wild Magic. You also have a chance to shrink.... or turn into a potted plant for a bit. Or blue.... That's wild magic for you."

Izzy purses her lips and sinks back more comfortably in the water, parting the curtain of her hair as she studies... this. Tiefling. "....you have my attention."

The sorcerer smiled at her, "Could work! Or not. You'd have to find a sorcerer who's magic comes from chaos, and hope for the best. OR potentially tap into that inner magic yourself, if you can. Sorcerer magic is finicky like that."

Izzy waves her hand at the idea she could tap into her inner magic more than she already had, but the other thing... now there was an idea. Izzy strokes her chin thoughtfully and lapses into silence.

As she follows him, Kithe's smile shows in his eyes while he continues floating back and away from her. The glowing of his irises reflects off the surface of the water, and the gears turn in his mind as he considers his next move. He glances briefly toward the partition between the spas as it looms behind him, and he turns again, backing further into the pool.

"Come and get me," he teases telepathically, his mouth still covered by the water. Beneath the surface, his hands are at the ready should she come close enough to catch in his grip. For now he does his best to stay just out of reach, luring her further along.

She continues to wonder what he's planning. But, what would be the fun in not indulging. She approaches slowly, keeping on the ready for his sudden movement. She looks up to the partition when he does, trying to put his thoughts together for herself. The telepathic voice enters into her mind, causing her to get a playful gaze of her own. It is hard for her to resist a challenge.

She tries to move a little fast in the water, trying to circle around Kithe at a distance, seeing if she can find a moment where she can catch him off his feet. "Be careful what you ask for, dear." 

As Clover moves around him, Kithe swivels in the water, unwavering gaze trained on her. He hears her warning in his mind and chuckles, a few bubbles rising in front of his face. Then he quiets, silent, waiting for the right moment. This is a delicate game, and it simply wouldn't do to reveal his plans too early.

Just as she drifts a bit further along in her circling of him, he leaps toward her, arm darting out with surprising speed and catching her around the waist. Water splashes up high between the two of them as he pulls her close and buries his fingers against her exposed side, wriggling them rapidly along her ribs.  His head tilts a little further out of the water, triumphant laughter filling the air.

Clover is in mid movement when she is surprised by Kithe sudden launch. His speed catches her off-guard and before she knows it, she is caught in her grasps. Splashing around as she feels his fingers wriggling against her. She can't help but laugh while trying to bat Kithe away. "Kithe!  Hahaha! Stop! Stooop! Hahaha! My gods!"

Suddenly she didn't feel so much like a 'captain' and instead it feels like it had before they left. Something more innocent and playful. It had been so long since they were able to enjoy a moment of teasing and laughter. She worried during the last year that things had become a lot more stern between them. Not in a bad way but in a way that made it seem like a lot of that old wonder was starting to fade as they made room for familiarity.

She already survived her heart becoming cold and tired once. Shutting out the world of her youth and the memories prior to her pilgrimage. Kithe had brought it back to life. Removed her cynicism and gave her that chance to be a Clover from a long time ago. A Clover that can be a little confused and embarrassed but ultimately a lot happier.

It is in this moment that Clover lingers. Wanting to hug Kithe as he continues to tickle her but she can't manage to break through. She wraps her arms around his, trying to prevent him from continuing. The splashing ceases as she looks him in the eye. She moves forward, her arms sliding up his. For a moment, she is silent as thoughts begin to settle in her mind. She always loves Kithe, but it is good for her to be reminded that she is in love With Kithe. She lets go of his arms and wrap hers around him, placing her face against his chest. "Thank you..." 

Feeling her writhe in his grasp, laughing and swatting at him, causes him to smile all the wider. It almost hurts his face how happy she makes him. He continues his relentless tickling, splashing around and moving along in the pool as he does his best to contain her. His laughter joins hers as he catches one of her flailing strikes on his jaw, and he looks down at her with renewed fervor. "Okay, now a bunny's really gonna get it!" he teases as the wrestling continues.

It isn't until she earnestly wraps her arms around his, squeezing tightly, that he calms his play. The look on her face, though positive, seems more serious somehow. He stands still in the water as she runs her hands up his arms, moving closer. Curling his arms around her in return, he looks down quizzically as she speaks. "What for?" he questions, his smooth, syrupy voice low and curious.

"For not letting me walk away that night outside the arena. You could have let me go and we've already talked about why but that doesn't even matter because it changed my life forever. You changed my life and got me on the right track. There was a point where I was ready to die without a second thought. I was come-what-may in the worst possible way." She says as she grips around him tighter.

"My family would have never heard from me again. They would have spent the rest of their lives never knowing." There are tears but unlike all those times before, there is no sobbing. Just silent streams of tears and a calm, collected face of Clover as she stares out to the wall, her ear returned to Kithe's chest.

Ella makes her way into the spa, wincing in mild pain as she removes her breastplate armor and quickly plops into the cleansing waters, sinking all the way under for a moment before popping back up and resting against the side.

Maisie looks down at her "The garden again?" she asks sympathetically

Alqamar looks as Ella entering the spa "Are you okay Elation do you need any other healing?"

Ella nods to Maisie, undoing the two buns at the top of her head to let her wet hair down. "Yes, nasty viney things and awful creatures that burrowed up from the ground. And a manticore, of all things!" 
She smiles sweetly at Alqamar. "I think I'm alright, just need to take it easy for a bit. Thank you, Alqamar!"

Maisie frowns "Might need to go check out things. I do not like the sound of this." She sits on the edge of the pool, letting her feet dangle in the water.

"I wasn't able to check on any of the other machines while I was there, unfortunately. As soon as the corruption hit me but the machine was safe I didn't think I could risk it..." Ella settles into the water further, then her eyes widen suddenly. "OH! There was someone else there helping me, I never got their name. They had this...biiiiig creature with horns, it trampled and gored through those viney things like they were paper. I've never seen anything like it before."

Ark arrives in a small brimestone-scented cloud with Del limping against him. "Go on and get clean and healed Del, you're getting blood on my good jacket." He smiled and laughed a bit helping the master to the spa if needed.

Maisie takes one look at Del and turns "Alqamar! Better come, might need you."

She leans on him but pulls away as they enter the spa, looking confused that she's here, shaking her head. "Nope, no. Can't. Not now."

Sevin stares in surprise at the sudden arrival of Del and Arkmir, having heard the sounds of battle come from outside, making outside all the more terrifying. "What happened??"

"Things, explosions, loud noises, it's hard to keep track of. She'll be fine, little nap and it'll be fine." He let Del have her space, but stayed near to assist if needed.

Aurora sits up seeing Del enter the spa, her pupils dilated to large round orbs. She shifts, moving closer to get a look at her from the water. "Sune's tits! Del!" The tiefling gets out of the water and moves to her, placing her hands on her shoulders, checking her arms gently.

Alqamar looks at Del not even bothering to wait a second and cast 8th lvl Heal.

Drift quietly limps his way into the spa finding a quiet corner to sit and heal.

"I'll be fine." She agrees, reaching for the wall and leaning against it as Aurora approaches. She shudders as Alqamar's energy washes over her. The bloody wounds heal; the cracks do not.

Maisie walks over quietly to Drift "If you wish, you can soak in the waters, they will help you heal. Or I am available if you wish quicker healing."

Cas looks up at the sound of Arkmir’s voice, getting up and wrapping up in a towel to go find him. “Arkmir? What ha—“

His eyes go wide at the sight of a gored and bloody Del, the giant Tabaxi with blood in his fur. That’s a lot of blood— and her stomach... looks just like...

He shrinks back, horrified, as memories rush up around him, and in a matter of seconds he literally shrinks. Standing in the cafe is suddenly a small, blonde  elven girl with purple eyes and golden skin.

She has to run. Run and hide. 

She turns, running back toward the spa.

Just by the water, a pale-blue dimension door opens, and out steps Ayala, followed closely by Knife.

Aurora's expression sinks as she looked at Del, her fingers tracing the cracks on her arms and face. Not a single flicker of surprise, she knew how Del was in a fight. It was more of a memory, a time back before The Nexus. "Rest for now," that wasn't a request, judging by the firmness of her tone. The tiefling took Del's arm, taking it over her shoulder and supporting her waist, taking her over to the spa to sit in the waters.

Del digs in her heels when she realizes Aurora drags her toward the water, shaking her head. "Nope, no no no no, Aur, I can't right now, let go please."

Ayala glances around at the fervent activity in the building. It makes sense, after such a grueling battle. She does her best to stay out of the way, hands shoved in her pockets. She turns to Knife as he exits the Dimension Door. "Ah, name's Ayala. Sorry. Shoulda started with introductions before yellin' atcha."

For the briefest of seconds he thought he heard a voice he turned his head catching just the tail end of the shift, face curling in a frown. He looked back at Del and the others already swarming her. "You should be fine...now I think. I exp-......" He let out a small sigh before heading off towards where Cas ran off to, deciding to save his jokes for later. 

Knife nods, making an equal effort to not stand in anyone's path, which is admittedly somewhat difficult for an unsteady, heavily damaged suit of heavy armor. "No apology necessary. Call me Knife."

Aurora paused, still supporting the elf but not making any movements. Then it hit her, "Right. Stupid, sorry," the sorcerer started to guide her elsewhere, where she can sit and relax.

Drift looks over at Maisie and takes a finds a seat in the Spa.

Del sits, shaking her head. "I'm the stupid one, hon, it's okay." She pats Aurora's hand and leans her head back on the wall and closed her eyes. "You okay?"

Holding her towel tight around her, her breaths coming quick and shallow, the elf runs through, scrambling past the pool of healing where everyone is congregated. Further, further, her feet slap along the floor as she hurls herself into the last spa, finding a corner to hide in.

Gorlyl walks in “Apparently this is where everyone is...?” He looks around at the menagerie of people “Guess I’ll go change.”
.
Daemin quickly looks at Cas running off, and gets out of the Spa “let me look for them.” Daemin follows behind Cas

Sevin sees Alqamar help Del, breathing a deep sigh of relief before looking over as the other start streaming into the spa, all looking very banged up. Seeing a walking suit of armor, Sevin cannot resist. He walks up, looking over the armor curiously, poking at the damage. "Is there no one in this thing? Woahhhh. How does it fix?" 

Maisie nods and turns to Knife. "Hm. That's a bit beyond me to repair, I am afraid. I can do a little emergency mending, but you really are going to need a blacksmith." She looks over at Del "And that may be a bit..."

Aurora sat next to her, one hand on her shoulder. "I doubt you did anything stupid. Reckless? Most definitely," the tiefling smiled at her, inspecting the crack on her face, her breath forced from between her teeth, "I'm unscathed, don't worry about me. You I'm worried about, what happened?"

The armor in question winces and pushes the strange man's hand away from the damage. "Well, fixes up like most armor, except this one is alive and can feel pain. Also, adamantine."

The tiefling strides past everyone, not paying attention to anyone but the sound of the footsteps until he here's Daemin's voice. There's a moment of thought as he lets the wizard pass him. "...They probably have a better handle on it......." With a soft sigh Ark moves back to the spa, slumping into seat.

"Good t'meetya, Knife--" she blinks, looking over as the shorter man in glasses walks straight up and just pokes Knife. "Ah. Hello," she says with an irrepressible chuckle at the sight, "I hadn't question how he works yet, I'd be interested t'know." She's only just now realizing it's not clear if someone is inside the armor. 

Sevin nods in hello to the additionally annoyingly tall person, pursing his lips for a moment as he assesses how tall she is before turning his attention back on the suit of armor. "Oh, does that mean you fix like a suit of armor? Does magical healing work on you? Can you feel when I poke you? What powers you? Is that magic too?" The questions flood out one after the other, looking very interested.

"Let a fascist get away." She snarls faintly, reaching up to touch the crack. Del also hisses. "Went down. Got back up--well, didn't quite get to stand. Went down again. That one hurt. The others had it in hand. I got pulled out at some point; Arkmir brought me around." Del glances around the spa, doing a count. Her shoulders sag with relief, seeing people getting fixed and accounted for. She watches Sevin attend to Knife with a look of pride and approval. Her head turns back to Aurora. "Didn't really have time to be reckless, this time." She chuckles.

"Okay, okay, slow down." Knife takes a second to process the torrent of words that was just spewed in his direction. "Yes, I can be repaired like normal armor. No, typical healing doesn't work on me, though Mending does work for more minor fixes. Yes, I can feel when you poke me, so please don't. And as for how I work, I am a soul magically bound to a suit of armor. So yeah, magic is what makes me work."

Ayala chuckles further and listens to the barrage of questions put to Knife. The half-orc observes and listens to the answers, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

"Did you and your brother try to reincarnate your mother but things went horribly wrong?" Ark throws out one more question as his tail flicks curiously. A talking suit of armor is certainly something new and novel.

Knife pointedly ignores the question from Arkimir.

Sevin listens in rapt attention, taking in all the information before thinking. He sticks his hand into his jacket, it disappearing up to his elbow as he pulls out a box full of supplies. "Can I see if I can fix the dings? Can I? Wait...what?" Sevin blinks at Arkmir for a moment. "Though with your annoyingly large size, I would probably need help from another...annoyingly large person...." Sevin pointedly looks at Ayala next.

".... I would call this more than a few dings, but if you think you know what you're doing, you're welcome to try. And if I need to lie down or something, just say so." Knife obviously looks to be in bad shape.

"There'll always be another day to get a fascist," Aurora notes, her brow furrowing as she hissed in pain. The tiefling nodded, hearing how it went on her side. At the mention of Arkimir getting her up, she looks over at him momentarily, sitting in the water. Her eyes then follow Del's, looking out in the Spa at all the people here now. "Now that I don't believe," she smiled at her, "I'm... glad, though. You all made it out in one piece... well, more or less." The tiefling hardened her gaze, her voice getting very quiet, "You're getting this fixed when this is over." Aurora pointed her talon at the crack on her cheek.

"I could keep whispering sweet nothings to her to help her feel better, but last time I did that she punched me so I think that well is dry." He grinned and laughed a bit turning his attention back to Del and Aurora.

Del winces as Aurora points, less because it hurts and more because Aurora is telling her. "It's gonna take a while..." She turns her gaze back to Arkmir and gives him a sheepish look. "Yeahhhh, sorry, you. Ah. Gotta be careful when you're waking me up. Lots of people find out the hard way." Her face takes on an apologetic grimace. It wasn't the first time.

Ayala arches an eyebrow at the jacket, happy to observe in the background, and then she catches the words "annoying larger person" and the pointed look. She snorts, tusky smile twitching in response. "This annoyingly large person would be happy to help if the annoyingly inquisitive person would like t'share their name." She lets out a quiet snort and gives a short wave. "Ayala."

Sevin observes Ayala very closely for a moment, before breaking out into a wide smile and a giggle. "Fair turn of words, my new friend! I'm Sevin, Alchemical genius extraordinaire! It is nice to meet you. Now. If theses are all not supposed to be here, I'm going to need your help to pull out the dings so I can set them straight again. If that is alright, ....wait, do you have a name magical soul of armor?" Sevin pauses, having been giddly pulling out odd instruments.

The armor in question hesitates noticeably. "... Knife." He takes a look at all the things Sevin has pulled out of his jacket. ".... I don't even know what half of these things are, and I'm not sure I dare ask."

Maisie takes one look at all the things coming out of Sevin's jacket and slowly moves as far across the spa as she can.

"I know, but it needs to be done," The sorcerer sighed, leaning back on the wall as she raised an eyebrow at Del, then Arkmir. She had an idea of what Del did when she was revived buuuuut.....

Cas sits in the corner of the last spa, tucked behind a potted plant, crying with her knees hugged to her chest. "A-Arkmir? Are you out there...?"

"I'm more upset about the fact I didn't get a thank you is all, I mean I did save everyone from those towers and keep you alive." As much faux disappointment and sadness as he could inflect was poured onto his words. A hand came over his heart in a 'woe is me' pose as an overly dramatic groan left the tiefling as he tilted his head back. After a few moments it snapped back up with a grin and a laugh. "Just glad to keep you alive kid~"  Your master is on his way, you don't need me 

"I don’t see them anywhere... is D-Del still...? A-actually no, don’t answer that... can you come back here...?"

Ayala's smile broadens at Sevin's response, and she nods, standing up from leaning against the wall, uncrossing her arms. "Alright, new friend Sevin," she reflects his words back to him, her gaze traveling over the dips and dents in the armor that is Knife. "Tell me what to do." This is a new experience, she's never assisted an Alchemical genius before! The half-orc is game to help however she can.

Knife, in an effort to make this easier on both of them, lays on his back. "I really hope you know what you're doing. Don't want to make more work for Del."

"I thanked you before we left." She huffs, the crooked smile looking a bit more crooked with the gash in her face. Del looks back at Aurora and mimes a tap on her cheek followed by a punch across the jaw.

Nine Hells is he useless He cursed in infernal before sighing. "Sorry I couldn't hear you over the sound of my cracked jaw~ I think I'll go fix that." He chuckled at the pair before heading off to go find Cas.

Cas gasps at first when she hears footsteps coming closer, then takes a deep breath, hugging her knees closer. “Arkmir...?”

The tiefling watched the exchange between Arkimir and Del in silence, her brow raised a bit, watching him as he left. Her head turned back to Del. Aurora winced a bit, reacting to the mimed punch. She was just glad she was never on the receiving end of one of those, they looked painful. "Maybe not as in one piece as I first suspected...." she smiled.

Sevin grins from ear to ear as they kneel next to Knife, checking over the bumps, cracks and dings. He mutters quickly under his breath, checking the breastplate. He gestures for Ayala to reach under, placing her hands where they need to be if she allows it, before ordering her to lift. With a resounding pop the dent pops back into place. "Oh good, that's the important part. Now to get to work. Feel free to talk while I work, I got lots to fix here."

Sevin pulls out his utensils, bottles of liquids and brushes, along with tongs and such. He uses the liquids to melt and soften the metal, before using the brushes and tongs to melt things back into place, and force cracks to seal back together.

Suppressing a few pained noises, Knife lays still, and were it not for the voice that would soon emanate from him, he could be easily mistaken for just a suit of armor. "That's... How are you doing that? Normally Del has to use an immense amount of heat to work with adamantine."

Seeing the outline of Cas, he let out a small sigh and took off his outer most coat before kneeling down, offering it out. "Plants are always the worst place to hide, too many gaps......take my coat, it's better covering than a towel and I dont think your other clothes will fit right now."

Ayala drops down to one knee beside Knife, allowing Sevin to guide her hands to the proper placement. Though she doesn't actually meet anything more than air and metal when putting her hands inside the suit of armor, something about the act itself sends litle squiggy shivers through her joints. This is essentially Knife's body, and she feels admittedly a litte strange getting all up in there. She tries to shake off the tension with a little humor, humming a quiet tune and emphasizing the final note when she POPS the dent back into place at Sevin's instruction.

She withdraws her hands, wiping them needlessly on her pants, and dropping her other knee down so she can sit back on her legs while Sevin works, ready to help again if need be. "I'm very curious about that as well," she chimes in, watching, "This is genius level for sure."

She looks up at him, her voice strange as she accepts it from him. “No, they won’t... the tunic might...” She manages a weak smile, wrapping up in his coat and awkwardly pulling the towel from underneath. “I-I’m sorry, I... the blood... and Del’s stomach, I...” Her eyes start to glaze over as she starts to retreat into her mind again, her eyes watering.

Ark silently pulls it closed a bit, buttoning it up just enough to leave her covered if the towel fell. "Shhh...just breathe, listen to me breathing in.....then out....focus on that for a bit and calm down slowly.....in....out...." His tone was soft and even, keeping a careful eye on the changeling to see how she was handling it.

Sevin hums happily, preening when they note that he is able to work with adamantine. "Huzzah, I'm glad you noticed and asked! Careful now, this liquid here is a special kind of acid called, specifically made to eat at metal. But, when diluted with this liquid right here, it mimics the effect of soldering metal instead, called Aqua Regia. And then, when I mix it with this reagent, instead of melting the metal, it softens it, just enough so I can rework it, but it does take some time to reharden. That's the only downside, and also the part where if I accidentally touch them with my hands, I will see bone. Fun stuff, right?"

Cas follows his breathing with shaky, stuttered breaths. In... out. In... out.

She brings her hands up, looking closely at the fabric as the sleeves drape from them. Eventually, after several minutes, she’s calmed down again enough to speak. “I haven’t seen that much blood in... a long time. Since I was this old.”

Knife falls silent for a moment, then chuckles. "Remind me never to mess with an alchemist. If you really wanted to, you could probably dismantle me in an instant."

There's a small sigh of relief seeing that Cas has started to calm down. He brushed a little hair from her face, wiping away some tears with his thumb. "I told you to run away with me, could've avoided all of this." A small smile crossed his face as he took a seat against a wall, looking a bit tired now that he had stopped moving for a few seconds.

Cas shakes her head. “I made a promise to Master that I would stay.” She rests her chin on her knees. “This... is your first time seeing this girl, huh.”

"What a master they are...." He tilted his head back, closing his eyes for a moment. "You know I'm not very particular about your form Cas, each one is special to me."

Ayala takes in Sevin’s words words with a slightly glazed look on her face, but she does her best to follow. What she gathers for certain is he has a phenomenal grasp on alchemical concepts. “You weren’t kiddin’, Sevin. Alchemical genius extraordinarie indeed!” She chuckles, then looks down at Knife, a sudden question occurring to her. “So...if it’s not rude,” she prefaces with a grunt, “Er—how did your soul get magically bonded to this armor?”

Cas sighs, lowering one knee until her toes peek out from under his coat. “This was the first form I ever took.” She looks at him sadly. “I wish it was by choice. She was really pretty.”

"Not by choice, hm?" He opened one eye to look over at the changeling.

She shakes her head. “This is Casodel’s younger sister, Lathborien. She... was dead when I met her.” She tilts her head, looking out at the water. “I was taken to their castle to replace her.”

"..... That..." Knife shakes his head slightly, and when next he speaks, his hesitation is replaced by a rather flat, emotionless tone. "I'm sorry, but that's something I'd rather not say."

"Replace........there's a lot of pieces in this story you're not filling in Cas,"

"It's fiiiine its fine." Del reassures Aurora, patting her hand as she looks around the spa. Her eyes narrow slightly. She waves a hand in front of her damaged side and sighs. "Greaaat."

She sighs. “Lathborien died of some illness that the royal doctors couldn’t heal. Apparently they were afraid of what the King and Queen would have done if they found out. That’s where I came in.”

"That doesn't explain a whole lot Cas, why were you even a possibility for them? What were you doing with them?"

"Oh yes, I would enjoy dismantling you and putting you back together if you ever let me. It would be fun to try." Sevin laughs, before trying to hum the song Ayala was humming before, trying to pick it back up again as he works. "Oh, well if you not answer that, can you answer how long you've been a suit of armor? Can you even eat? Do you feel hot or cold, or just pain? Are you still ticklish? If I whacked your knee, do you still have reflexes?"

Knife thinks over the question. "How long I've been like this... I want to say it's been 100 years or so now. No, I can't eat, but I don't need to. I can feel temperature, but it's... dulled somewhat. It has to be a pretty extreme temperature change. I... haven't really tested whether I'm ticklish, but if you try tickling me right now, we will both regret it. Same with the knee thing."

Cas pulls her hand back, having reached a finger out to touch her toes, and sighs again. “You’re not going to like what I’m going to tell you, Arkmir.”

Aurora squinted her eyes at Del, watching her wave her hand over her face... notably where the cracks and damage were, "......Del, what's wrong?"

Del makes a face. "I maaay have lost vision in this eye."

"Just hush up....then keep talking. I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know." Ark gently took Cas, pulling her over so her back rest against him, arms gently resting around the smaller form protectively. "Go ahead, I'm ready"

Cas huffs, bringing her hands up to touch his arms. “The royal wizards were skilled in planar magic. They had heard of changelings, but they don’t exist on that plane, in that country. So they went to Sigil.” Her hands tighten around his forearms. “That’s where I was born.”

He kept his head back and chin tilted up which hid the confusion in his face. "I can't pretend to understand any of that...planar magic....all of that stuff isn't exactly my forte. Why care about changelings?"

Ayala winces at Knife's discomfort in answering her question, withdrawing a bit and folding her large hands in her lap. As she hears Sevin's newest deluge of questions, she curses herself inwardly. Any one of those would've been better than what she'd asked! Why did she have to jump straight to something he couldn't answer? She ought to have known better.

Listening to Knife's response, the half-orc feels her curiosity blossoming again, but she's worried to hit on another topic he won't be fond of. Perhaps he doesn't even really like talking about himself, some people don't. She gets herself very befuddled for a moment, brows knit together in tight concentration. What can she even ask?She needs to redeem herself from her earlier debacle. An involuntary grunt sounds in the back of her throat. "Why would we regret ticklin' you?" she asks, finally, words tumbling over each other. Great. Great! That probably isn't something he wants to talk about either. Heavens above, what's happening? 'Why am I like this?' she groans, inwardly. This day has been strange all around.

Aurora purses her lips taut, looking at Del in silence for a few seconds in silence. "You MAY have--," she took a second to compose herself, she held up her hand, her fingers barely hovering apart, "You're taking time off after this and getting it fixed fixed. If I have to go into the Shop every day and learn how to work the forge so you can take the time off to go, then by Garyx's fine ass, I will."

Knife chuckles again. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a heavy-ass suit of armor. If it turns out I am ticklish, there's no way this scrawny little thing wouldn't get hurt as a result, and I'd rather not have that on my conscience."

Sevin laughs loudly. "Bold of you to assume I've ever regretted getting hurt for testing out something for science!" There is a pause, as if Sevin contemplates the chances of trying it out, before shaking his head. "But, I will be polite for now. I mean we just met, how scandalous would that be? Alqamar might kick me out, and I would miss out on bubble baths."

“They wanted a changeling to replace the princess. A young one, who could reasonably match her lifespan. So, they stole one from another plane.” They scoot back against Arkmir, looking up at him. “That was me.”

"What's the part I won't like? The part where a kid was stolen and forced to do something they don't want to? Cause yeah.....that does get me a little upset, but it's not your fault."

“I wasn’t thinking about whether it was my fault. I was four...? Five? I wouldn’t have ever blamed myself for that.” They lay their head against his arm. “I didn’t mind the life, really. Everyone was willing to blame any discrepancies in my personality, the difference in my voice, on the illness. I had a governess and tutors to teach me arts and writing ...”

"I don't mean to sound insensitive Cas, but I'm not exactly understanding where things went wrong.......there's a but in this story that you're not getting to."

Del presses her lips in a thin line as Aurora gives her what for, knowing she has no room for argument here. She holds up her hands in a placating gesture. "I will, I will, I need my vision, its just.... hhhh, Aur, it's gonna take so long, though." She sighs in exasperation. "Stupid almost dying."

She strokes Arkmir’s arm. “I... it didn’t last very long. Apparently outside the castle our people hated us. I’ve learned since that my life came at the cost of the prosperity of many.”

"That is how it generally works with rich folks, not many are rich off of their own labor or work..."

She bites her lip. “There was a revolution.” She begins to tense up, her back becoming stiff against his chest as she recalls the memory. “The rebels won. They rounded our family up... Cas was so worried about me, he wouldn’t let go of my hand...”

Ayala laughs at both of their words. It's a deep, warm laugh that shakes her shoulders as she hands her haead, pressing one palm to her forehead in amusement. "'Course, I shoulda realized. Big dumb orc brain over here," she taps her temple for emphasis, then glances over at Sevin as he works. She watches his face, wondering something. A few moments of silence pass before she speaks up again. "So, Sevin, when did you learn t'do--all of...this?" she questions, gesturing vaguely at the tools and liquids he's laid out. "Alchemy. I've never seen anythin' like it."

Aurora softens a bit, placing a hand on her shoulder, carefully avoiding any cracks. "At least it was stupid almost dying and not stupid dead," The tiefling smiled at her, "You've been run ragged the last while, and who knows how long before I came. You need a rest."

"You can stop there.....I know how that story ends....written a few like that.....caused a few like that probably." He sighed soft as he kept his head back to avoid Cas looking directly at him.

Cas nods, holding onto Arkmir’s arm like a lifeline. “That’s why, when I saw Del...”

Sevin blinks at Ayala, chewing on his lip. "I don't like this dumb brain qualifier. You've been just fine helping me and don't seem dumb at all. Just sayin'" Sevin resumes working after making his statement matter of factly, before smiling again. 

"Oh! Well, let's see...uh my father didn't want me leaving the basement, so he placated me with books. I got interested in the idea of transformation, the art or chemical reactions, and started collecting books. And doing my own experiments, which was fun. I even started my own business from my basement, and dug a hole to my local library to steal more books. What do you specialize in? Like whatcha like to do?"

"Cas...you don't need to explain it any further, I understand......let's just...forget about it....that's in the past, you're safe now alright?"

Cas turns in his arms, trying to rise up on her knees to look at him. “I... yes, I’m safe now...”

"You've got Vhal...Daemin...other good people to protect you....no need to worry anymore.....You found a sanctuary here Cas."

"See, told you I was doing the stupid thing." She cracks a grin. "Just had to go toe to toe with a dragonborn in pull plate. I did a number on him. Fat lot of good it did me. And I'm only running a little ragged; it's been along couple of weeks." Del stares out unhappily at the spa for a second before standing up. "I'll... be back in a bit. I wanna do a perimeter sweep. Go back to your spa thing. I promise you I will rest when this is all over."

Cas reaches up to touch his face. “I have you too, don’t I...?”

"Running ragged still," Aurora commented, looking over at her and watching her stand. She furrowed her brow, she didn't like the idea of her going, but she understood. "....Okay. Be safe, Del. If you need anything, I'm here and good to go."

"You don't need me..." For a moment he feels the urge to pull away from Cas, but he doesn't. The lingering feeling against his face is somehow reassuring. "You shouldn't want me.....You deserve good people Cas, that isn't me."

"I won't run." Del tries to reassure her, playing her tone light. "Just today. We're almost there, Aur. We won. Just a bit more. Then I can rest." She leans down to give Aurora's shoulder a squeeze and then turns to leave the spa, holding a hand out to pat Alqamar thankfully before she heads out the door.

Ayala lets out a huff of breath at Sevin's comment about her qualifier, and she rubs the back of her neck. "Ahh, thanks," she mutters awkwardly before listening to the answer to her question. 

It's a lot of information to take in, and she nods slowly, picking apart the pieces as best she can. "Never been much for books," she comments offhandedly, still trying to parse everything he said. Oh! And he'd asked her a question. "Oh--me? Specialize...well," she chuckles a little, her hand still resting against the beack of her neck. "Actually. My husband and I dimension hop and time travel, but my specialty is more on the protection end of things. I'm real good at hand t'hand combat." She grins at that, fond memories of times she'd saved Nersirr's life over the time they've traveled together. "But you, sir," she shifts her attention back to Sevin, "You dug a tunnel? All on your own?" She tries to keep the skepticism out of her voice as she eyes his small arms. "Ah--can I ask how?"

Sevin listens carefully to Ayala, nodding along to her words. "Wow, protection is important. I mean, those are my favorite people, the kind that can make sure that nothing gets to me while I'm throwing bombs from the back. Really, my favorite thing about people so much bigger than me, I can hide behind them easier! I'm sure your husband is very thankful. Time hopping though, I wanna hear what that's like. That's beyond my understanding." 

Sevin glances up, grinning, obviously looking proud of himself, knowing how unlikely it sounds, given their tiny arms and slight stature. "How? Acid of course. I ain't strong enough to dig, but acid eats away at things really easily."

Cas tries to search his face. “You had a special violin made to play for me, and then you turn around and say I don’t deserve you? Arkmir...” She frowns a little, trying to turn his face toward her.

"I don't deserve you....." He tries to say more, but any other words get caught in his chest unable to even make it to his lips. Ark's face dropped but there was hardly an expression on it, just a half-distant stare and cold emotions.

Another laugh from the half-orc as she looks down at the tools and liquids Sevin is using on the armor, thinking she probably should've guessed as much. "I like you, Sevin," she declares, nodding firmly. She settles in more comfortably on the ground, knowing that this man is going to hold her attention for awhile. 

The two of them talk about alchemy and time travel for the next hour while Sevin works on the living suit of amror known as Knife. Ayala doesn't know too much about the mechanics of time travel, but she can certainly describe how it feels, and some of the oddities of living life in what essentially amounts to a nonlinear fashion. She is enraptured by his discussion of alchemical tools, bombs, and reagents. Some of these things sound incredibly useful to her life as a dimension hopper, and that's a fact she will acknowledge.

As the conversation winds down, Ayala stands and stretches, smiling down at Sevin."Well Sevin, I am real glad we've become friends, and I gotta say, you're talented. I'm thinkin' I might hop into one of those bubble baths you mentioned...Once you're done with Knife, here, y'wanna join me?"

“Arkmir...?” Cas stares at Arkmir, before making a little noise when she realizes she’s still in Lathborien’s form. She shifts into her tiefling form, worry pulling her mouth into a frown. “Please, darling... You deserve to be happy...”

"Says who?" Ark's head lilted back up just enough to look at Cas. It was clear he wasn't meeting her gaze, his eyes locked in at her chin. "You're happy and safe now....not scared anymore right? That's good, you should probably help Daemin find an actual bed...."

Cas shakes her head, reaching to pull Arkmir into a hug. “Did they fall asleep? They’ll wake up soon, I’m sure... But you need me, Arkmir. I’m right here.”

"I've made it this far alone....what's another 30 something years....Cas, I'm really trying to give you an out here, you don't want something like me, nor do you need something like me. I'm sorry for pulling you in this far, but what you love is a lie" He sighed turned his face away from her again.

“Arkmir. I don’t want an out. Please, look at me.” She reaches up to turn his chin toward her. “I deserve someone who writes songs for me and insists my real form is good enough. Unless all of that was a lie?”

Despite the others in the spa and the noise around them, only the silence around the pair rings in Ark's ears. How does he even begin to respond to that....Was it a lie? Was it just a contiuation of a lifelong act? It wasn't exactly easy to tell anymore, the lines had become so blurred it was hard for him to tell when he was telling the truth. "....I don't know how to respond Cas.....I don't know when I'm not lying at this point"

Sevin greatly enjoys the conversation, not getting many chances to go full bore on his most favorite subject, talking at great length about all the bombs he has made, and tried to make, as well as the poisons he has figured out in his time. He works meticulously to fix up Knife while talking, brightening considerably with the conversation to be had with Ayala.

He shows much enthusiasm learning about time traveling and how it feels, asking for meticulous descriptions to try and get an idea. He laughs at the idea of how Ayala dared called herself dumb, when she could talk about this, something so far out of his depth, with such detail. "I'm really glad we've become friends too Ayala, your husband is lucky to have someone like you around, for sure. I gotta say, you're just as talented. And now that Knife is good here for just some bed rest, I will happily rejoin the bubbles from which I came from. Seems like everyone else is pretty patched up too..." 

Sevin looks around looking over those still recovering, seeing that no one looks especially hurt. He shakes his head, looking worriedly towards the back for a moment before shrugging it off. It sounded like it might be alright....maybe. Definitely bubbles, that was not one tangle he wanted to get into, he knew he was biased. Slipping quietly into the bubble bath, he sighed, more than ready to relax with Ayala in silence.

Cas gasps as though she’s been burned. “Arkmir...” She stares at him, trying to find more answers in his eyes and finding little. “I don’t care what you think I deserve. It’s not about what either of us deserve.”

"Then what is it about?" There was a small hint of desperation in his voice, something wanting an answer.

She bites the inside of her cheek for a moment as she thinks of how to word it. “Have you ever really, truly listened to your heart, Arkmir? Do you ever try to understand what it wants?”

"No, I haven't.....I've shut that off.....There's nothing to listen to"

She frowns. “I don’t believe that for a second. It’s not gone, you just shut it away.” She sighs, cupping his cheek in her palm. “I spent twenty five years with my heart closed off to protect myself. It took work to actually let someone in when someone finally wanted all of me.” She turns Arkmir’s chin up so he will look at her. “Do you mean it when you say all my forms are special?”

"Then you should be with that someone....not me.....I meant what I said, but I know you won't want my real form, what I really am and do." Ark sighed again, dropping his head to rest against Cas' shoulder.

Cas cradles his head and wraps her other arm around his shoulder. “It’s a really rare and beautiful thing when I meet someone who actually wants all of me, Arkmir. I don’t let go of them if I can help it.” She strokes his hair. “How do you know I won’t still want you? How will you know for sure if you don’t trust me enough to tell me?”

"No one wants me......never have, never will...." A small sigh leaves the tiefling as the warm and reassuring hand runs through his hair. "......it's strange to be on the other side of this....I forgot what it felt like to be comforted......if I ever knew what that was like."

Cas simply smiles, kissing his head. “That’s simply not true. I want you very much, after all.” She rubs at his back with her free hand. 

“You say that now...” Ark just let himself rest against her for a moment.

Quarter and Elizabeth enter the spa, mostly untarnished apart from splattering of smoking silver goo on Quarters tabard and legs, and some slightly deformed melted metal across Elizabeth's claw. "I hope everyone was able to handle their challenges"

Alqamar looks over "Are you in need of aid of any kind?"

"I have only some minor metal fatigue. I will need to have a look at what they have managed to do to Elizabeth, it did not behave as normal acid would" They settle into the water. "But I am tired, I did not think enlarging myself would tire me so much"

"Well let me know if I can help with anything"

Quarter disconnects Elizabeth's paw as she lies down by the water. Fully dissasembling it she cleans it in the spa water gently washing off the corruption before resembling each piece and attaching the paw.

Maisie wanders out of the Spa area, frowning as she makes her way cautiously towards the Gardens.

Maisie comes back into the spa, her armor smudged with silver and ash. She slowly takes it all off, depositing it in a neat pile on the floor, and slips into the healing waters with a happy sigh.

A dimension door opens up and Hassan exits and changes and enters the spa using his towel to cover his back until his back is up against the edge of the spa pool.

Rolhen makes his way into the spa, covered in a mixture of soot, stomach acid, and corruption. Even with his jet black eyes, his stare looks especially blank as he tries not to wretch while moving along the spa.

Izzy raises a hand to the newcomers from where she's floating in the water.

Cray comes in, covered head to toe in ash and spores, and heads straight to the hot springs

Hassan looks over at Izzy just floating "You enjoying the waters there Izzy"

"The burning has stopped." She tilts her head back to grin at Hassan. "Long time no see, man! You look like you've been in the gardens!"

"ya that was a experience to say the least" hassan chuckles

"I see you also have seen the advantage of using fire in these battles"

Rolhen looks over at Quarter with a side glance as he slowly brushes the soot off of him. "Definitely made things...interesting." The marks along his skin shift a bit before he makes his way to the showers to clean up. He washes himself off with what he can before changing and making his way to the waters, slowly lowering himself into the springs, feeling the warmth envelope his body. Its soothing heat so unfamiliar to him after so long.

Maisie reaches over and casts Lesser Restoration on Rolhen "You looked like you took more of that corruption than any of us, you might need a booster," she murmurs before closing her eyes and sinking down until only her nose and eyes show above water

Cray belly flops into the waters of a different hot spring, and let’s the warmth take him in. He looks at his shoulder, and notices that a little gem is starting to peek out of his skin. Good, the regen mutagens were working. Cray closes his eyes, letting the waters cleanse him of corruption, Ash, and worry.

Rolhen feels the corruption slowly disappear from his body, its burden lessening until it is eventually gone. He gives Maisie a thankful nod. "It is important to do whatever is necessary to defeat the aggressor." He sinks a bit lower into the spring, up to his neck. "Whatever is necessary." He looked around the waters, a simple pleasure, but still seemed like a luxury. A confliction pinged in his heart. This was too much. This was indulgent for him.

Sevin opens an eye from his bubble palace, looking at another wave of people coming in, covered in wounds and silver. He shudders, but sneaks a little closer to hear better what is going on. He doesn't recognize some of them.

Cray opens an eye after an hour passes “That was a good nap... is anyone here that I know?” Cray straightens out, and pulls himself out the hot spring that he’s in “Hello! Anyone back here?”

A thin hand shoots out from a mountain of bubbles and waves. There is no other indication of who in the world would be in a mountain of bubbles in the spa during a battle.

The buzz of a metal buffer indicates the presence of an engineer of unparalleled skill and genius. And the warforged that built her.

Cray looks at the hand and hears the whirring. Dang it, he wants to investigate both “I see your hand and hear your buzzing, are you two close? So I don’t have to be rude and choose one conversation over the other?”

Quarter turns off the buffer she is next to the water, the minerals in it are good for her wooden parts and cleaning gears and such "Over here"

Cray, still stumped, moved to a midway point between the hand and the warforged “Hello! I don’t believe we have met. I am Socratius Myasten! Some know me as Cray. And you are? And you! Mystery hand! Reveal yourself!”

"I am Quarter, and this is Elizabeth. The panther not the hand." Quarter answers plainly.

Sevin's face finally reveals itself from the mountain of bubbles, squinting before they concede to cleaning their glasses off. They go to see something, before realizing that there is now a new suit of living metal in the spa. They gasp, emerging further in interest. "A Cray and a technological wonder, what a treat."

"True she is quite a marvel"

Cray smiles “Sevin! It’s good to see you! It’s a mess outside, I’m glad you weren’t out there. And it’s a pleasure to meet you both, Quarter and Elizabeth! Yes, your panther is quite the marvel, did you... happen to build her yourself?” Cray sits where he is standing, so that he can have sight lines to both Sevin and Quarter.

Never tiring of a chance to talk about herself Quarter rests a hand of Elizabeth.
"Yes I did, it is nice to meet you both Cray and Sevin."

Sevin somehow manages to move their bubble mountain closer, wanting to hear about the building of a living walking machine as well. "I shot ballistae at evil ghost things. Now I'm hiding. Glad we met Quarter. You built it? Fascinating. Is it sentient? Magically powered? Steam? Souls?"

"Semi sentient, empowered by my own.... you wouldn't happen to know anything about artifice would you?" Quarter looks suspiciously at Sevin. Are they after my secrets? A spy?

Cray shakes his head at Quarters question “I’m an alchemist by trade, specializing in the sanguine arts. Sevin is also an alchemist, creating marvelous items through infusions and distillation.” Cray begins to ask another question to Quarter, before sharply turning his head towards Sevin “You did what?!”

Sevin wiggles closer, not hiding their excitement. "Yes, like Cray said, I'm a master alchemist, specializing in bombs and poisons. But the theoretical properties of mixing magic and science have always been a fascinating subject I much love. Semi sentient machine powered by artificing, today is my lucky day." Sevin stops drooling for a moment to blink at Cray. "I shot ballistae at the things trying to come through the gate from Del's roof? I got to blow up so much stuff these last few days."

"I would have suggested a magical weapon for dealing with spirits, from my experience they are a hassle with mundain weapons" Comforted by the fact that he is not a mechanistic but still wary of inteligence Quarter loosens up. "But to answer your question, she is animated by the energy from my own mechanical soul."

Cray looks quizzically at Sevin “On... Master Del’s Roof... you were willingly outside?! Where was I in all that? Damn Astral Plane training, even though I got stronger, I missed on a monumental moment with you!” Cray addresses Quarter “That is astounding! So in theory, if anything happened to you, would Elizabeth house your soul then? Or vise versa?”

Sevin sinks further into their bubbles, not answering Cray's excitement, deciding to instead focus on the really good question. "Oh yes, that is a good one Cray, are you both connected via soul entirely, or only partially?"

"No no, she possesses some animating force from my soul but my soul is still fully contained in me, a bucket of water taken from a well. If I were to die she would continue on for a time but eventually she would slow and power down without another power source."

Cray narrows his eyes at Sevin. He’ll push later, he knows Sevins tricks at this point. Cray focuses back on Quarter “That is fascinating, almost symbiotic... can you tell us what is special about this water?”

Sevin mumbles to himself. "Wait, a bit of power of the self infused into...like a bucket of water out of the well. AH! Quarter, we are siblings in arms! That's how I make my reagents. My bombs and reagents, I can infuse them with my own essence to make them super fast. But they only last for a day. So yes, like pulling a mini battery from you! Eventually it runs out. So cool."

"Yes, my sibling shoestring is a alchemist as well, he does remark how difficult it is make reagents hold their charge for a great length of time." Quarter answers. "I was able to draw on my knowledge of my own construction to maintain the infusion for a long time, and it only takes a short while to restore it when it is needed."

“Hm... avoiding the question about the water. I’ll respect it, everyone should have their secrets.” Cray rubs the back of his neck “So... either of you have been to the Gardens lately?”

"Yes, I was defending it, there were some fires"

"I wish I had my notepad. But it's wet in here. I understand Shoestring's lament, I have had much the same problem with the more powerful reagents. Marginal workaround using the magical essence of other creatures to power things, but only marginal. Wait, the garden was on fire?" Sevin looks between the both of them in confused shocked. "Cray, you know I don't go outside. What happened?" A question directed at both of them.

"I was defending on of the cleansing machines from corrupted plant creatures, they were using the buses in the maze as cover, I determined the hedges to be a liability so I did the only logical action. Burnt the hedge with the creatures inside."

Gren's snoring is interrupted as he slips under the water briefly. He springs up from under the water, coughing, looking around with barely opened eyes, then eventually dozes back off leaning against the side of the spa

“And it looks like the group that I was with followed after you, since we had to put out the fires when we were facing the Corruption.” Cray barks a laugh “It was a mess out there Sevin. A huge creature with a bulls face was there, these plant creatures that spat out zombies... it was definitely something.”

"Fire on plant creatures, sounds about right. I would do the same." Sevin sinks even further into their bubble mountain. "Yes, that all sounds terrifying. I've fought zombies before, not fun. I'm glad you are ....what happened to your shoulder crystal?"

"Things are still far from over, we have defended the machines but the taint still is out there"

Cray nods “Most definitely it is...” Cray pulses once at Sevin’s question “Um... I gave it up so that I can grow in my psionics abilities... Master Lucas made me a mirror with it that I can go into the Astral Plane, and exercise them. It’ll grow back, just... it’ll take a long time for it to be back to normal.” Cray pulls out the mirror “This is it.”

Sevin shudders. "I hope everything works out. I like this place. And I don't think I want to see Illari have to deal with watching another place he calls home be taken over by a supernatural tyrant that kills everyone and everything he's ever loved. I mean, even once is more than enough, you know?" Turning his attention on Cray, Sevin frowns. "Hey uh, Cray, what is Lucas?"

Quarters interest is piqued at the new interesting object
"Excuse me it is rare that I encounter something I am unfamiliar with I like to savour it. What are psionics?"

Cray grimaces at Sevin “Lucas is... I don’t know, a big skull with tentacles? Sounds about right?” He answers Quarter “Psionics is a heightened manifestation of mental capabilities, allowing the person to do telekinesis, mentally speak to people, and possibly enhancing themselves. It also gives me limited abilities to sense emotions, so I’m a bit of an empath.” Cray pulses once

Sevin throws an empty bottle at Cray's head very suddenly, watching it ricochet off his head. "You promised you were going to find out exactly what Lucas was before you took on any powers. You broke your promise." There is no yelling, Sevin's voice flattening.

Cray blinks at Sevin’s response. A monotone reaction? This is new, and that scares Cray “I’m... I’m sorry Sevin. With things going on, I... I didn’t want to die.” Cray goes and sits closer to Sevin.

Sevin sinks fully into their bubble mountain, their voice withdrawing as well. "You promised. How dare you break a promise. How dare you make me worry about you."

Cray tilts his head, and gets into the water with Sevin “Listen, I took a calculated risk. I wasn’t going to die from it. If an experiment had a failure rate of less than 5%, you would take those odds. And now... I can go to the Astral Plane. I can do things I can never do before. I can.. protect the people that I care about.” Cray sinks a bit more into the water

Alqamar re enters the spa tossing his staff behind the counter and immediately shifting back into his mayhem form.

The bubble mountain quivers. "No experiment trumps a promise from a friend. I was taught that. No excuses. You promised."

"Maaan you better stop while youre ahead you dun fucked uuuup." Izzy says from where she's floating, scooping bubbles as she drifts past.

Cray goes to answer Sevin, but pauses at hearing Izzy’s words. He sighs, and puts up his hands “I’m sorry Sevin. I shouldnt have broken the promise. You are right.”

There is a moment of silence before a thin hand snakes out of the bubble mountain and flails in the direction of where Cray's face sounded like it was from. Not doing his best to avoid just splatting Cray in the face. "Apology accepted."

Gorlyl walks over to the hot springs, and sees his mate floating in the water in her clothes “You know... you’re supposed to change before going into the waters, right?”

"I live life on the edge, baybeeee," Izzy flicks her fingers full of bubbles at him.

Gorlyl lets out a laugh, and enters the springs with her “Yes, that’s the mantra of your being, isn’t it, Precious?” He swims until he’s close to Izzy, and floats next to her
.
Cray sputters, gems pulsing “Y-you didnt have to smack me!” He rolls his eyes, and goes to enter the mountain of bubbles in search of his friend.

Sevin suddenly laughs. "It was all to find your face! You weren't going to dieeee." There seems to be a bit of sarcastic edge to it, mirroring Cray's excuse just a second ago. But having found Cray's face, it switches to patting his head, Sevin's own face popping back out of the bubbles, slamming right into Cray's chest. His glasses pop off and fall into the water.

"Oh crud."

Cray lets out a chuckle, and pulses once. The glasses float out of the water and into Cray’s hands “You really need to be careful, Sevin, these waters go deep in some places” He places the glasses on Sevin’s face, and brushes a bit of hair out of the way

Sevin squints, utterly blind without their glasses. Suddenly they feel them going back on their face, smiling in thanks, looking up as the glasses settle and focusing on Cray. Feeling a hand brush their hair out of the way, they sputter, hastily reaching up and trying to rake it back out of the way. "Ah, I broke my hair tie while shooting ballistae. Happen to have a spare on you?" Sevin laughs a bit too loudly.