Tsunami At The Tolbana Hot Spring

[Angelo]

Setting: One Month Later Continuation of the Tolbana Hot Springs

Friend's List

Inugami Kitferge

Black List

None

Angelo Lv2

"BE FREE" -KOU

Approximately one month has passed since his first visit to the Hot Springs at Tolbana. Although things got rather awkward there, Angelo felt like it was a step forward in maintaining his mental constitution in this death game. He thought that maybe he could make this hot spring visit a monthly thing to cool down and relax. With that decided, the teenager got up from his bed and rushed out of the inn.

Dusk was already approaching, the sun slowly sinking into the horizon. It would take about thirty minutes for Angelo to head over to the portal, go to Tolbana, and into the establishment that he went to before. Just like before, the inside held the receptionist desk with a solitary figure busy working on something he couldn't figure out. The desk itself was repaired but other than the large blaring sign that said:

MEN'S TO THE LEFT

  -there wasn't much difference in the interior. He went up to the NPC lady wearing the same kimono from last month and deposited a couple of col to use the hot spring. It seemed like she did not recognize Angelo however, and showed him to the men's side of the spring. He nodded and chuckled to himself as he went through the thick curtain.

The boy unequipped his clothing and took the towel and soap in the small bin and opened the door into the actual spring. Steam covered the entire area. To the left was a showerhead and a stool. He sat down, turned on the water, and washed himself clean before entering the spring water. Once he was submerged, he placed the towel on his head and leaned back against the stony wall, his eyes lazily looking at the door in front of him as well as the scenery.

"This.. this is nice."

[Elpharae]

(OOC: If necessary, GMs, deduct any amount of money you deem appropriate for entering the hot springs.)

Elpharae ran fingers through his dark hair, rinising the soap off carefully. His fingers rubbed against his scalp, and he leaned against the edges of the bathtub, enjoying the cool water for a minute before straightening. With steady movements, he made sure there was no more soap left anywhere on his body, and then sat up. Fingers gripping the edge of the tub, he cautiously stepped out before wringing his hair out, not trying to drip bath water everywhere he went. The corners of his lips twitched, and he pressed them tightly together, trying to suppress a laugh, remembering the earlier events that had transpired.

When he had come in to the building, the NPC woman in the front had been helpful, pointing him into the direction of the onsen. However, when he had gone into the halway, he was stopped by a much more obviously male player. After explaining that he was indeed a male and could actually see the huge sign outside (the last part was filled with cold, restrained fury under the veneer of forced politeness) the male had continued on. But it had been rather laughable when he saw the other’s expression when Elpharae claimed he was a male, eyes wide with shock and disbelief. Honestly, he was rather feminine, but it wasn't that much of a stretch.

He walked to the edge of the bath, entering the water and placing his towel next to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see another player, but ignored them, rationalizing that they were probably here to relax, too. They were much taller than him, though, with white hair, which, while it attracted a tiny twinge of curiosity, wasn't that interesting. He closed his eyes, water lapping at his shoulders as he cleared his head with every puff of steam that released from the water. Elpharae let out a quiet sigh when tension he didn't know he even had released from his body, and his black eyes opened momentarily, only to close again.

[Angelo]

Friend's List

Inugami Kitferge

Black List

None

Angelo Lv2

"BE FREE" -KOU

It was about twenty minutes of relaxation when his bubble was about to burst. Angelo heard commotion from outside the bathhouse, probably in the lobby.

"I swear, if that is another man trying to sneak into the ladies room, I'll.."

The rulebreaker would get more than a few broken bones if he had any say in it. Unluckily, Sword Art Online did not allow one to 'break bones' here. You either stay alive, get hurt and regenerate, or die. The jail here would be a good place for the peeker as well.

After a while, the sound outside died down and he heard the shuffling sound of someone inside the other room. A minute later, the door opened and in came a petite young man.

Angelo greeted the teenager and continued to keep his eyes on the moving figure. Through all the steam, he couldn't see very closely at what the stranger really looked like. All he knew was that he was thin, small, and had very long dark hair. Mister White would close his eyes and think about what Akane was probably doing. Oh.. how he missed her soo much. The way she talked, her jokes, her passion, the smell of her hair..

The smell of flowers filled his nose as the steam rose into the air. The boy crinkled his nose and opened his eyes as he saw in front of him the man going into the bath. Only this time, the man wasn't a man, but a woman, or so he thought. A small gasp escaped his mouth as he closed his eyes, followed by his entire face submerging into the hot water.

Whoa.. whoa whoa whoa. That was.. a man.. right? That had to be. A very thin, very feminine looking man. Yes. But.. What.. no. That was a man. That had to be a man. He had a pee-pee, didn't he?

Angelo ran out of air and the heat was becoming overwhelming. He slowly rose his head out of the water and opened a single eye. The stranger, now known as Mister Black (or is it Miss Black?), had his eyes closed. The teen with a hundred thoughts racing through his mind stared at his face, unsure whether or not it was a man or a woman. He decided to speak up casually, not letting his erratic heartbeat mess up with his words.

"It's a good time to relax, don't you think? After all the day's stress piling up, you can just let it all out here.."

He opened both eyes, wanting to hear the voice of the person across from him. Staring at their nether region proved to be of no help as the water and the steam blocked a clear view.

[Elpharae]

Elpharae's hand twitched.

Yes, he wanted to desperately say. It is a good place to relax after a long day. So you should let me relax instead of interrupting and talking, which is not what the hot springs are for. Accompanied with a strong slap, of course, the brunette was sure his message would go through. Instead, he settled for a long, polite "hmm" noise that seemed to dissipate with the clouding steam. His figure released its tension when he realized that the other was quiet for now, and his gaze raked over the room.

With the warm water lapping at his frame, the player understood that the hot springs were a place to quietly contemplate by yourself (he still wasn't over that quite yet) and closed his eyes, dwelling on his past encounters with other players. There weren't that many, actually-Athena, Kaito, Rue, Keiko...oh, and that one white-haired player that he just talked to, as well as that random passerby. Well, he was still on good terms with Athena, but Rue and Kaito...they were a different story. Keiko-he hadn't seen her for quite a bit, so there was really no telling.

He sighed, watching the water as his eyes closed. There was nothing left to do but stay here, he supposed, relishing in the heat of the water.

[Angelo]

	Friend's list: Inugami, Kitferge Soo here we are. Two guys in a hot spring. Together. Wearing nothing at all. Mhmm.. This is perfectly fine.. Just two men, naked..
	Angelo Lv2 | | "Be Free" -Kou

No answer.. He guessed that it wouldn't be that easy, although a small reply would have been decent. He guessed the other.. person would not want to be bothered. The steam emanating from the hot spring water was still as thick as ever, clouding visibility to both people present. His heartbeat was still beating faster than normal, but the more he thought about his current situation, the more he was sure that the person across from him was in fact a man.

The sign was huge, and the commotion outside was probably caused by this person in front of him. He/she wouldn't enter the men's bathroom side knowingly. But what can explain the long hair? Surely this person would know that having long straight black hair would cause a misunderstanding?

Angelo looked at a particular spot in the water near the edge, watching ripples splash against the side before it receded. The steam that rose up from that particular spot stayed in the boy's vision as he watched it slowly spread out throughout the room. It took a while until he finally realized that the water level was slowly dropping and with it, the amount of steam coming out of the water. Was the water draining away? What happened?? Angelo looked down at the small hole near the middle of the basin. A small whirlpool could be seen hungrily sucking up water. He looked up at Elpharae and back down at the drain.

"That's not supposed to happen at this time.." Angelo stood up from the water and wrapped the towel over his manhood, showing it temporarily in the time in between. He walked over and exited the spring, but not before stealing another glance at the long-haired man. He wiped off all excess water from his hair and body before leaving the room to go talk to the receptionist about the water problem.

[Elpharae]

Elpharae felt much more relaxed when the boy fell silent.

Thank god, he had thought he would need to take out his rapier, but obviously not. The peace and quiet soothed him, making him relax into the warm water. But when he ran deft fingers over the edge of the springs, he blinked, and a realization slowly washed over him. The water, which had been at the edges of his shoulders, was lower. It was lapping in the middle of the top part of his arm, now, and with that realization, the cup of tea he had been sipping almost slipped into the water, the boy barely able to catch it. It seemed his...companion had noticed it too, and left, presumably to complain to the management.

But him? Elpharae bit his lip, and then stood, tying his towel around his hips before wringing out his hair, twisting his dark locks as water seeped out. Why was the water lowering, again? He stepped his way over to the place where a small whirlpool was formed, frowning. His leg swept out, trying to make sure that water was really disappearing, and it was-where the plug, he assumed, was supposed to be. Well, that was a problem. An obvious one. He sighed. Now, where could the circuit board be? The player frowned and turned toward the other room connected to the men's springs. He emerged later on, much drier...and so was the water.

Equipping into his other outfit, the green player frowned. Well, the water drained because the plug was gone (obviously, he thought to himself rather drily) but who had taken the plug? His eye twitched, and he rubbed his eyelid absently, trying to keep it still, even as he turned and left the room, the clouds of steam barely existent now. Was it too much to ask to relax for one day? One whole day? If the management isn't any help, he thought sarcastically, his mood souring, we might have to solve the case of the broken plug. Oh joy. If this turns out to be a quest, I swear...

Flicking his hair behind him, scowling lightly, he headed towards the lobby, where he sent a brief glance in icy acknowledgement at the white-haired man there. He was talking to the receptionist, so Elpharae paused, slightly unsure. If the matter was already being discussed...ah, well. He decided to stay, wondering if the staff would be of any help. He had heard there was an incident last month, but shook it off. It couldn't have been too serious, if they were still in business. Unless that wasn't how it worked in Sword Art Online. It probably didn't, come to think of it...

[Angelo]

	Friend's list: Inugami, Kitferge THIS WAS A BUST!
	Angelo Lv2 | | "Be Free" -Kou

It seemed that the drain's internal control mechanism wasn't responding and that there was something happening at the power source. Angelo asked where the power source was, but the receptionist didn't know the answer to that question. She only worked there as an NPC. Why would she know anything else besides that? When he asked about the owner of the bathhouse, she again replied that she did not know anything. It seemed that he had to do a little investigating of his own.

When he turned around to face the men's side bath, the other person with the long hair came out, causing Angelo to step back once. (He?) was clad in feminine clothing, but the boy looked directly into Elpharae's eyes.

So that was what the commotion outside was.. If you don't want others to confuse you as the opposite sex, why wear something that would obviously give others the wrong impression..

Angelo exhaled, not knowing what was going on in Elp's mind, but he decided to just forget about it. Turning his back on the long haired man, he talked to the receptionist once more.

"May I figure out this small problem on my own? I would require that I need your full assistance and access to this bathhouse to solve this problem with your drain."

The be honest, he had no idea how to start though. Maybe a little trip to their circuit breaker would do the trick?

[Elpharae]

As the white-haired player continued to ask questions, theories whirred around in Elpharae's head. Honestly, what was going on? There was something off about this whole thing. Who in their right mind would do this, anyways? It obviously wasn't one of the busier days in the hot springs, and there were few people around. The women's springs seemed to have no such problem, and that meant that it wasn't a maintenance problem, was it? Could this incident be deliberate, carefully planned by another?

At any rate...this "Angelo" seemed to have it covered. But as soon as he asked that question, the NPC's worried features, which were creepily realistic, smoothed out into a smile from her previous harried frown. Freezing up, he turned to the pretty girl, and was rewarded by a quiet ping that no one else but him could probably hear. His quest log. If this was a godforsaken quest...Elpharae huffed and gave in, opening his menu with a flick of his hand.

There, awaiting him, was a quest option, titled some inane thing that he could honestly couldn't care less about, and there was a blinking YES and NO option that awaited underneath a brief description of the events that had transpired. After sending a subtle, desperate glance around him, Elpharae bit his bottom lip and finally accepted the quest. If it was a quest, there had to be something quasi-violent in there, and he really needed to blow off his steam somehow.

Shifting his gaze onto the white-haired man, who he assumed would be taking the quest too, the brunette accepted and turned to the beaming NPC for more information, sliding one leg out to lean on his right side, viewing the empty reception room with a sweep of his eyes. It seemed everyone in the room would have received this request...if there was anyone else, that was.

[Angelo]

What Do We Do Exactly

What Do We Do Exactly

"Where is the location of your circuit breaker?" he would ask kindly to the receptionist. She replied that she did not know the answer to that, however she did know that there was a door that led to the basement area at the end of the hallway. It was where they kept maintenance of the water and food and other weird things they did. Angelo frowned, wondering why they had to even fix the problem for them in the first place. Maybe it was a reason to get away from the long-haired boy currently taking on the quest, or maybe it was him trying to be helpful. In any case, Angelo had the first clue: the basement.

The hallway was small, wooden, and left nothing to the imagination. To the immediate right was the women's bathing area, while the next door would be the men's. A little ways further would provide them with a staircase going up that probably led to the establishment's resting rooms or other bathing locations. Across from the staircase was a passageway that led to the kitchen. The end of the hallway had a single door that seemed smaller than the rest, and more worn out, for some odd reason. The single, 'out of place' door that didn't look like it belonged was the entrance to the basement. Go figure.

Just in case, Angelo equipped his weapon and wore his normal clothing for the trip down. He placed his hand on the doorknob and- it was locked? There wasn't a keyhole on the doorknob. The boy tried turning the knob again and it didn't budge an inch. He sighed and let go. Now what?

Little did he realize, the doorknob wasn't really a doorknob than it was more a metallic protrusion to pull on.

[Elpharae]

Elpharae sighed. It seemed that the white-haired boy didn't want to be here any more than he did, so he merely thanked the receptionist, making a slight bow and tilted his head to her in recognition, making her smile, relieved expression falling onto her features. "Have a nice day! I hope you come again!" She chirped at his retreating form, and then turned to a customer who was awaiting her attention, a pretty brunette girl. "Welcome to the Tolbana hot springs! How may I help you to..."

When they walked down the hall-well, Angelo (was that really his name?) seemed to know what he was doing, and Elpharae raised a curious eyebrow as he tried turning a doorknob. But it didn't have a keyhole. Could it be locked? Elpharae gently brushed his arm aside and took a look, wondering at why it wouldn't budge before staring at the edge of the metal object. It-wasn't moving. That meant!-he bit his lip. They were both idiots. With a self-conscious cough, he pulled it open, watching the door swing open. He blinked.

It was a passageway that seemed way too similar to a horror movie for the brunet to be completely comfortable, hands raking through his hair in anxiety. The boy narrowed his eyes, trying to see as he walked through the dark area, fingers brushing against the walls before he felt a cobweb, cringing and withdrawing his hand, instead materializing his rapier and using the sheathed blade to run across the walls. Nothing yet...it was a pity he hadn't chosen night-vision.

The crossdresser tightened his grip on his weapon, replacing it by his side as the room lightened, sending a curious glance to Angelo, since it seemed like he knew what to do. And if he didn't...the brunet sighed. Well, then, they were both at a loss, weren't they?

[Angelo]

Underground Time? :(

Underground Time? :(

His arm was pushed to the side while Elpharae figured out how to open the door. "Oh." Angelo simply said as he stared at the opened door. As much as he could see, the staircase circled downwards for quite a distance before it turned into darkness. The boy let out an involuntary gulp. Elp was already braving the darkness, attempting to go down into the basement without him. Angelo exhaled rather loudly before heading down after the girlish man. The silence was broken with the uneven grating of the rapier's sheath rubbing against the concrete wall.

Once it became too dark to see with his eyes, the white-haired teenager reached out subconsciously to where he thought the sleeve of the kimono was. Feeling cloth, Angelo tightened his grip lightly so he knew exactly where Elp was. The sounds of footsteps, breathing, and the inconsistent grating was all that the boy could hear as they descended even more. It felt like the went down a hundred feet, but at last the two boys would reach flat ground. Still holding onto the sleeve with his left hand, Angelo felt around the walls and ceiling for anything that could turn on the light. At last, a string just above their heads. He pulled on it lightly. The light blinked on and off several times before finally staying lit.

Ahead of them, a dusty, narrow passageway lead nowhere in particular. Water pipes lined the ceiling and small bulbs that were barely on provided almost no additional light in the hall. To their immediate left was a small wooden table with a flashlight and a wrench. Just above it was the layout of the inn's basement. Just before they had the chance to read the map, the ceiling made an awful loud creak before part of it collapsed, along with the light. Angelo pulled hard on Elp's arm so he could get away from the falling debris above as the entire place got plunged into darkness yet again.

[Elpharae]

Elpharae was okay with the light grip at his sleeve at first. But then it became a tug. The brunet, unprepared, stumbled forward, and managed to steady himself for a second by grabbing Angelo back, seeing as how the white-haired boy was still standing, before hitting the ground, his right shoulder against the dusty material of the floor. He rolled over, finding Angelo, and took a moment to click his unsheathed rapier against the floor, which produced a cold, hard sound. Elpharae would have liked it if he weren’t so annoyed. His dark eyes flashed with ill intent, obviously disliking the white-haired boy’s actions, and then he stood, using his rapier, which was sheathed, as a balance, almost. He narrowed his eyes at the other. “Why did you…”

He trailed off when he noticed the debris, and Elpharae blushed crimson before realizing his mistake, instinctively kneeling down by the boy’s side again, tilting his head curiously, even as his mind grumbled that Angelo could have…something. Yes. Exactly. His black hair fell into his face again, and he brushed it back impatiently before noting that Angelo had very green eyes, and then he abandoned the fact to offer him a hand up rather sheepishly, though he doubted that he would be able to pull Angelo up, considering their size difference. “My apologies. I had acted rashly. Thank you.” With that perfunctory measure, he rose to his feet again, feeling a light urge to kiss the other’s cheek out of gratitude and affection, but merely settled for sending a polite smile in his way, inclining his head to motion towards the dark hallway. “Do you still believe we should continue on? It seems quite dark…and I’m not as fond or observant of falling debris as I should be.”

The green player giggled again lightly before growing serious, furrowing his brows as he absentmindedly raked a hand through his dark hair, making an elaborate twist out of it, and then focused again, his pupils sharpening. He took a moment to lean against the wall, regaining his balance, and then gestured lightly to the path before him, and then offered a hand to him, pointedly not looking at the white-haired boy. "We'll need a way to know where each other are, and it's much too dark to tell." With those words, the crossdresser flicked his hair behind him with his other hand, and then began to walk again, unsure of what he would find.

[Angelo]

You Are A Man, Right?

You Are A Man, Right?

Why did this place want to be dark? What possible purpose does this game have for Angelo and Elpharae? The green-eyed teenager laid on the ground, being dragged down as well. At least they were both unhurt, or at least that's what he thought. The offer to lift him up was taken wholeheartedly, but the boy used mostly his own strength to get up on his feet. He smiled back at Elpharae noticing the minute differences in the other person's face. Although very feminine, coupled with the kimono he seems to wear, he could see a bit of a man at such a close proximity to Elp's face.

Angelo's cheeks still flushed red however; the man still looked very woman-like. The darkness still surrounded them int he basement, which sent a slight chill up the boy's spine. He shuffled around towards the desk where the flashlight was, carefully avoiding the debris on the floor as he did so. Once his fingers wrapped around the familiar feeling, he fiddled with it until he found the switch and turned the flashlight on.

"Uhh wait, Elpharae-san. If I remember carefully-" he pointed the light at the wall above the desk, revealing a layout of the basement. Angelo read the schematics carefully, trying to figure out just where the switch for the power was. The first door to the left in the hallway was the food storage. A walk-in freezer of some kind? The door directly across from that to the right was the water control room, which probably held the manual lever for the drainage above. That itself was faulty so they had to turn all the power on and off at the.. there! All the way down the hallway. The last door to the right. It seemed like that was where the generator was, as well as the switches to turn all the power on and off.

Angelo couldn't help but feel uneasy at the situation. He thought he heard growling in the darkness ahead. The boy pointed the flashlight down the hall, but the light still could not permeate through the darkness ahead. This was one long hallway.

[Elpharae]

Elpharae flinched if scalded, and his eyes flashed with contempt for himself and this other. Honestly. Alright, then. His lip curled in disgust inwardly, and he shuddered a little, unsure of the sudden bout of malice. The crossdresser couldn’t help but feel as if he had been scorned, and the thought made him recoil, prideful as he could be and all. He retracted his hand hurriedly and huffed, a tinge of pink coloring on his cheeks, which was thankfully hidden in the dim light. The green player watched as Angelo discovered the layout and moved on to go deeper, and followed quietly, sending cautious glances behind him. Honestly, that earlier experience had been kind of eye-opening: He was much more cautious now.

It was kind of awe-inspiring, the way that Kayaba created such a vivid, complex world. His fingers ran over the cracks in the walls, noting how they didn’t follow an exact pattern or repeat at all, just flowed within another, like veins in a marble floor. Natural, almost too much so. Perfection at its finest. He had come in here for inspiration for his could-have-been novel, a book about virtual reality and the way that it shifted, bringing the main character in and out and in again, until he forgot he was a part of the real world and blended in as a program of the game. It was all very abstract, really, but Elpharae had it somewhat planned out-it would be written with the system of the game as a narrator, speaking to the player and urging the player to get out before the game swallowed him up, as it did the system, who used to be a player. It was abstract, poorly thought out, but the concept fascinated Elpharae, and that was what brought him…here. A concept so similar to his own it scared him.

The brunet paused, remembering where he was. There was no place to think about the real world in this game, after all. He bit his lip and merely pressed on, barely noticing the end of the hallway before he stumbled into a wall, putting one hand in front of him to steady his palm against the material, frowning. He had been lost in his own thoughts again, and that had been a cause for his distraction. He couldn’t let it happen again. Elpharae tilted his head and sighed inaudibly, exhaustion showing on his features for a brief second before his expression calmed, leaving no trace of his emotions. Thankfully, he was turned away from Angelo, so the brunet took a short moment to regain his composure before turning to the white-haired boy. “What should we do now?”

[Angelo]

Well, I Guess We Go In

Well, I Guess We Go In

The slow walk in the dark reminded Angelo of a time when he was out of the house at midnight. He didn't want to go home. The lamps were broken, and the only light that illuminated his path came from the crescent moon above. He was headed to his girlfriend's house, but the small street he was on, looked soo dark, soo miserable, that he dared not go through. It was the shortest path to her house, the next longest path taking an additional fifteen minutes extra because he would have had to circle around a large apartment complex. There wasn't much of anything memorable about that shortcut, only that it was the path he always took and hated.

Some of the doors were slightly open, giving off flickering lights inside. This was not a horror setting whatsoever. It was just the basement of a rundown hot spring establishment. Or so he thought.. They made it to the end of the hallway. He stood in front of the door to the generator room. It was firmly shut, but the fear that was slowly building up in him came true. There were footsteps on the other side of the door. It did not sound like a human's. He looked back at Elpharae next to the wall, pointing at the door.

"There's something on the other side. I don't really know how much, but there is more than one." He took a guess at what had happened down here. The person normally in charge of repairs did come down here, only to get attacked by a monster and died. How did the monster get inside? Why was it inside the town walls? Angelo took out his weapon and gripped the handle tightly. If and when Elpharae was ready, he gave a small nonverbal countdown and swung open the door at zero. The boy quickly stepped in, taking in the new scenery.

The lights were on, although they too flickered on and off inconsistently. In the middle of the room was a large rumbling generator. Above it was a broken pipe with steam coming out of it. The footsteps that he thought he heard was actually the pipe colliding with the top of the generator. The growling was the generator itself. Nothing was in the room besides the two males. He exhaled loudly, releasing the pent up air that was held in his stomach, expecting a fight. "Nothing.."

He sheathed his sword and looked around. The generator was still running, but the circuit board with all the levers was nowhere to be found. perhaps it was in the water control room. "Hmm."

Angelo looked at Elpharae and tilted his head to the side. "Back to the other room?"