closed | a day of relaxation for everyone's souls

[elevelvetor]

WHO: Persona peeps + Elliot
WHERE: An exceptionally nice bathhouse-spa-restaurant, reserved for a day
WHEN: March 17th, 12PM to 8PM
WHAT: Persona meeting #4 as hosted by Elizabeth, due to a conversation with Akira
WARNINGS: Make your own top levels, though everything in the third prompt will have its own section to keep things nice and neat. (did i smash rayne and hei's text together? a little)

I. TAKE A LOAD OFF
[ The spa is all paid for, as are the treatments, so why not take advantage of it? There's plenty to do, from all kinds of massages, to mud and ash baths, to a sauna, nail and hair salon, etc... Essentially if there's something for comfort, it's here, so don't think too hard about it. ]

II. GET SOME PRACTICE IN
[ Want to train? Well, today's host has a relaxed "no overworking" policy for today, but the spa does have a gym in reserve if you really, really want to do something. Whatever's in a gym is in this one, including a room that seems to usually be used for things like yoga classes or kickboxing or something? It's big, so there's plenty of room, but, like

please don't break anything. ]

III. I GUESS WE SHOULD HAVE SOME ACTUAL DISCUSSION THOUGH
[ For those that get hungry, you're in luck: the meeting proper is being held in the restaurant attached to this particularly fancy spa, at around 6pm. Eat some healthy, refreshing food (though you can technically do this whenever during your stay, this is the Official Dinner Meeting Time) and talk about the following things:

• Newbie introductions
• Team building (share/discuss/get to know each other + trust exercises)
• Memories/Retrospec shenanigans
• Items and abilities from Retrospec
• Privacy issues (Personas are free to be talked about, but other issues may have come up)
• Free discussion/advice corner

Elizabeth's also procured some whiteboards and markers, if illustrating things is easier for you, or if you want add to Yukiko's relationship board (which has made its reappearance once again). Don't worry about being overheard—connections being what they are, this room is fairly private and the waiters only come when called. Elizabeth's made arrangements with her fancy connections. ]

Comments

[tarotcards]

[ romantic ]

[ souji isn't ready to die just yet though so while still holding onto minato's hands, he will surface. come up to the land of air with him or will you stay here to perish ]

[compendiem]

[ Not being able to breathe hits a little too close to one of his greatest fears, so he surfaces right after Souji does, standing straight up so that his hair falls thick and wet over his face, like a curtain blocking him off so that nobody can see that it's him having his hands held hostage, why did he give Souji his hands, that was a stupid idea. ]

Um.

[ UMM. ]

[tarotcards]

[ minato fucked up and now he's going to pay for his mistake. souji holds minato's hands with both of his own and they're still held close to his chest ]

These are now mine.

[compendiem]

I promised someone no more bleeding hands, so unfortunately, they come as a package deal.

[ DOES HE WANT TO DEAL WITH THE REST OF HIM?? Choose wisely. ]

[tarotcards]

What comes with the package deal?

[ souji doesn't make any wise decisions around minato so guess which choice he's going to make ]

[compendiem]

Me. I'll be in your care.

[tarotcards]

I'll make sure to treat you right.

[ he bows his head. ]

May I hold your hand for the rest of the day?

[ why is he asking when these hands are his ]

[compendiem]

[ He considers saying no, but maybe that's pushing his luck when he gets no say, seeing as Souji now own his hands. ]

You can hold one hand.

[tarotcards]

[ souji's going to find a permanent marker and write on minato's hands later btw but he will entwine his hand with one of minato's, letting go of the other. souji's really lucky that tatsuma is okay with him doing all this dumb nonsense ]

How's this?

[compendiem]

[ "Property of Souji Narukami"... It's his property; he might as well get it tattooed.

Minato flexes his fingers a little, smaller in between Souji's. ]

Oh. This is nice. I don't have to grip tightly, with the knuckles keeping our hands together.

[ Lacing fingers is surprisingly convenient; it's better than regular holding hands by the palm. ]

[tarotcards]

[ he'll make sure to get it tattooed in cursive with cute hearts and roses around it ]

I can also lead you to wherever you want to go and you don't even need to keep your eyes open to follow.

[ sleep walk or something ]

[compendiem]

[ Amazing. He'll have Minako's dragon tattoo beat.

SOUJI'S PROPOSITION IS EVEN MORE AMAZING THOUGH Minato closes his eyes right away. ]

You can drag me around the pool. [ hot springs ] It'd be like swimming, but zero effort. [ don't swim in hot springs, guys ]

[tarotcards]

[ there are no signs that say you can't swim in the hot springs (there probably are) but does it look like souji really cares? ]

If you lie on your back, I'll pull you along. Thrice around the pool and maybe we can try something new after? Like mud baths?

[ he just wants an excuse to take some mud and smear it across minato's face ]

[compendiem]

As long as I don't have to move, okay.

[ He can flip over onto his back, though, no assistance needed. And even extend his other hand out over his head so he can be balanced while floating on his back. This is something he probably hasn't done since he was four and learning how to swim, maybe. ]

[tarotcards]

[ all minato needs to do is just relax and souji will begin to walk him around the hot springs, pulling him along gently. other people are probably staring at them, wondering what's going on, but souji pays no attention to them. he just makes sure that minato is enjoying himself on this journey, floating around on his back like an otter ]

How is it so far?

[compendiem]

[ All he needs is some clam shells and he's set. It's relaxing, though, that feeling of water moving past his shoulders without expending energy on his part-- it makes him think of the ever ascending Velvet Room, of progression and growth. There are times when he feels that he doesn't deserve growth unless he puts in his full efforts and then some, but there are other times, like this, where he thinks it's okay even if he doesn't act.

It's like a trust fall exercise, except in this case, it's Souji holding onto his hands, and Minato silent and fast asleep and would probably sink and drown the moment he's let go. ]

[tarotcards]

[ it's a good thing that souji isn't cruel enough to purposely fail this trust fall exercise and that he actually likes minato to let him drown. he will continue to drag minato around the hot springs three times like he promised but when they finish, souji kind of does want to leave the hot springs. he has gotten his fill of hot water and hot steam and pulling little otter minato around but he can't just leave the hot springs, pulling on minato's hand and dragging him across the floor of the spa. who knows if he'll even be willing to use his legs to stand up and walk now that he enjoyed the wonders of lying back and doing nothing?? ]

[ so near the exit of the springs, souji decides that maybe he should carry minato. so, unfortunately, he has to let go(?!) of minato's hands so he can carry minato, scooping him up in a bridal carry (pq regain, get!!). will minato wake up or will he continue to sleep?? also i hope that minato is wearing a towel that won't slip off ]

[compendiem]

[ That would be such a mortifying way to wake up, in somebody's arms without a towel around his waist and entirely exposed to the world, and if that happens, Minato would have to take Souji's towel. If Minato's towel is slipping, it hasn't fallen yet, but don't get too attached to yours, Souji.

It's the cold that rouses him, eventually, everything feeling heavy without the buoyant force of the water spoiling him. He opens his eyes to see Souji's chin first, then the ceiling, back at Souji's chin.

...

And closes his eyes again. This is how you wake up from nightmares, just wake up and go back and it'll reset itself. ]

[tarotcards]

[ minato's going to have to wrestle souji to get his towel which won't be awkward at all. one naked boy wrestling a nearly-naked boy for a towel. i'd hate myself if this is what happens. ]

[ it's okay, minato can continue to sleep in souji's arms because souji is heading somewhere. he has a destination in mind and that destination is... the snack bar. he actually wants to eat something before the mud baths so he has the full energy to put mud all over senpai's face and he assumes that minato is always done to eat something so he shakes him a bit in his arms ]

Sleeping Beauty, would you like a snack before we move on?

[compendiem]

[ They can wrestle each other for that towel while standing next to a stack of a dozen clean, neatly folded towels. ]

That's not how you wake Sleeping Beauty.

[tarotcards]

[ that honestly sounds ic for them. let's have them do it later. ]

[ ah, sleeping beauty does have a point. this is not how you wake up a princess. however, souji is in a very happy relationship with tatsuma so it's not like he can just kiss someone else on the lips (he's allowed to play gay chicken all he wants and to do other things like hold hands but no kissing) so he just bends down and kisses... the top of minato's forehead? ]

[ is that enough? ]

[compendiem]

[ That's more than enough. A whole lot more than Minato was expecting— he expects Souji to say no, to tell him off when he's going too far, to maybe press two fingers against his lips in substitution because Minato wouldn't have been to tell the difference with his eyes closed. Instead, he startles violently, completely ruining the moment by trying to sit upright and inadvertently skull bashing Souji's chin or something. ]

[tarotcards]

[ you know what you shouldn't do while someone is holding you in their arms? it's to bash your skull to their chin. you're in for a bad time if you do that. ]

[ souji luckily doesn't drop minato when he suddenly gets ATTACKED but he stumbles backwards and trips over his own feet, losing his balance. he falls onto his back and knocks his head right on the hard floor. minato can probably have a nice landing since souji fell back with him still in his arms but holy shit....... ]

[ prince charming is down for the count ]

[compendiem]

[ Oh shit it's Minato's first murder. The sound of Souji's head hitting the floor is immediately concerning, and Minato rolls off him right away so he's not crushing a rip or smothering his face. ]

...Hey.

[ He's torn between speaking loud enough so that Souji can hear him, and whispering so that nobody else can. ...He errs towards the side of whispering, throwing furtive glances left and right to see if anybody else saw, and then. I guess he'll be taking Souji by the ankle and dragging his corpse into a closet or something to hide the body. ]

[tarotcards]

[ no, sorry, souji is down and he's down for good but that's probably because he's choosing to keep his eyes closed and is pretending to be unconscious to see what minato does ]

[ like if he actually starts dragging souji by the ankle ]