I miss video games

[mansionstaff]

Who: Errybody
What: HOT SPRINGS: HOT SPRINGS EDITION
Where: Hot springs. Different hot springs. Not the hot springs that turned everyone into six year olds.
When: March 25th - March 29th
Warnings: Cursed springs. Sex swapping.

Right outside the resort is the main attraction, a collection of natural hot springs, separated by gender with a co-ed spring in the middle. Despite it being late March, there's still a dusting of snow on the ground, making the warm springs all the more inviting.

If the main resort area is too crowded for you, there are whispers of a secluded, private spring down a secret path. It's supposed to be very nice--if you can find it.



It's dangerous to go alone. Take this!

((OOC: Event info is here! The secret spring is cursed. Please remember to note location/time in your top level comments, and link back and forth when you threadhop! Hotel shenanigans go here, and please don't hesitate to contact a mod if you have any questions.))

DIRECTORY:
| Alorah | Banjo | Blaze | Cammy | Chili | Connor | Copy X | Cyrus | Daisy | Eirika | Eggman | Goombella | Innes | Ishimaru | Jin | Jolt | Kieran | Kumatora | Liquid | Manah | Nabooru | Noel | Ocelot | Pit | Pit [Secret Springs] | ROB | Samus | Schezo | Shadow | Snake | Vinnie |

Comments

Evening 25th and onwards

[punchthepistil]

It was a less than ideal situation to begin with.

With spring starting up, Vinnie could feel his flowery bits ready to turn him into a one man walking pollen factory. It was going to happen soon, he knew. So the fact that it was now of all times to go to a hot springs? He really didn't want to be on the receiving end of someone complaining about flower spunk in the shared pool.

Which sucked, because he really did enjoy hot springs - it was a pretty fun the last time he went. So he figured, maybe if he found a smaller pool, out of everyone's way and took a dunk in the evening, things would go okay.

And it worked out about as well as he really should've suspected.

Still, it was all probably temporary, as usual - so Vinnie really didn't see the point in hiding away out of embarrassment. Fuck that. But when it came to taking any more soaks, he'd just stick to evenings at the co-ed pool.

[travelingbelle]

She hadn't run into any of these springs' oddities yet. This was still just a randomly sprung, fancy vacation as far as Blue could tell. Which was cool. A little weird, since there wasn't anything wrong with the school this time around like a giant flood or anything like that, but she had been assured by random other people that this was just a thing that happened sometimes.

Well. She wouldn't say no if she was already there.

So she let herself into the co-ed springs after she got a good feel of the hotel. These seemed real nice. There was a green-haired lady that Blue couldn't say she knew from behind at the edge of one now, but this unknown status wasn't going to last for long. The trainer went to join them.

"Hello, I don't think we've... Ah."

Now she got a good look at them.

"...Ahh."

[punchthepistil]

Vinnie blinked, taken slightly aback by Blue not recognizing him - it was only for a second though, and he quickly also remembered that yes. He was now a she. The Venusaur snorted, trying at least to appear like she was taking this all in stride.

"Yeeah. You can guess what freak occurrence of the week this is."

[travelingbelle]

Well, the now she Venusaur was doing a fairly decent job of it. It let Blue smirk instead of being overly worried about it, since a simple switch in genders didn't seem like it was that big of a deal. Perhaps she could just think that because it wasn't happening to her at present, or just because Vinnie wasn't obviously freaking out.

Blue lifted her hands as she shrugged. "Welcome to the world of femininity...? How'd this end up happening?" Maybe it was something that could be avoided.

[punchthepistil]

"Y-yeah, thanks," the Venusaur muttered with a rather obvious share of awkward in her voice. It was definitely not as comfortable a situation as she was trying to play it off as.

"There's a smaller pond off the beaten path that way," she said, raising a hand to point in the direction of the cursed pool. (Maybe it was also a little apparent that, well, Vinnie didn't exactly have any sort of top on underneath the cloudy water. This wasn't a thing you exactly prepared for in advance.) "It probably goes both ways, so I wouldn't recommend it."

[travelingbelle]

All right, so this wasn't the most comfortable of strides. That was understandable. Blue took note of the direction, making several reminders to check it out from a distance and to inform her team of the awkward possibilities that were in store if they wandered off carelessly. "Mm, it would end up working out that way, wouldn't it?" Blue gave a little sigh. "I'll stick to out here then, though I guess it wouldn't be that horrible to deal with. Probably easier than... ahh..."

Blue had noticed that Vinnie hadn't had much going on in the world of cover, but it only just hit her that it probably wasn't entirely out of being comfortable with nudity.

"... If you'd like to borrow something, we can see if I have anything that'd fit," she offered quietly.

[punchthepistil]

"I've been turned into worse, but it's still pretty fuckin' weird," she advised. There usually wasn't a whole lot of choice involved when it came to baby's first horrific body change, but Vinnie was pretty sure Blue wasn't quite ready to explore the intricacies of dealing with having her own junk.

Probably.

Her offer, though generous, made the Venusaur's expression fall into one of tenuous disbelief. There had to be a more polite way of saying, 'I am way too large of a person to fit into anything you could possibly own because you are a full foot shorter than me," but it came out as, "...But you're tiny."

[reservedempath]

Voile had been halfheartedly admiring her green hair. The girl's anyway. Woman's. She was definitely older than the Gardevoir, but how she carried herself and how she stood... It seemed like there was a lot of confidence present.

But of course. It's hard to not be confident when one is pretty, right? Why wouldn't you be? She frowned a little to herself as she tried to work that out.

When she thought of looking aside, however, and taking in the rest of the sights, there was something that stopped her. A feeling. An incredibly familiar feeling. And that required a little prying, which wasn't something she wanted to do particularly, but to be fair, it was almost a little overwhelming trying to handle everyone else's sensations at the same time.

So when she inched closer to Vinnie, she eventually found herself at a point where she was staring up at the green-haired woman, and making absolutely no effort to hide it. Because she was pretty sure she'd figured it out.

[punchthepistil]

When Vinnie eventually noticed Voile coming up to him, The Venusaur waffled internally over whether to be the first to say hello when it felt a little bit like... she didn't recognize him? Some kind of protocol had to be in place, at least, for this kind of situation. There was distinct lack of clarity in her eyes by way of 'oohhh, shit. You're a woman.' It was a rather unique, but obvious kind of clarity, he felt.

Perhaps unconsciously, Vinnie tried to puff his chest out a little, as though to somehow invoke his usual masculine side despite all changes. He could be a more manly woman, right? Yeah... maybe.

Voile still hadn't said anything though, making the Venusaur feel that much more awkward despite all attempts to keep cool. Under her scrutinizing gaze, Vinnie cracked and spoke first. "Uh... Voile?"

[reservedempath]

Up close it wasn't... really obvious, but Voile was observant. If Vinnie was trying to hide, it wasn't working. Not when he had an empathic Gardevoir at his side. Even after he - she - spoke, Voile still wasn't quite sure what to say. Not just yet, anyway. She took her gaze from Vinnie and looked around, just to make sure she wasn't about to oust him or anything else that seemed a little... rude.

Or brash, she supposed.

Then she looked down to herself and looked back to him. As if she was trying to compare the two of them, though she wasn't able to get a superbly good look at him. "...Vinnie?" Voile finally asked as her eyebrows knit together. Without even really needing to wait for him to confirm it, since she could already feel the confirmation, she tipped her head. "...You are honestly one of the prettiest girls I have ever seen, but this has to be immensely... awkward for you." To put it lightly.

[punchthepistil]

Well she was doing all right - or at least, she was doing a good job of deluding himself, which was good enough, right - until Voile pointed how how apparently pretty she was? Vinnie wasn't sure if it was actually comforting to know that he was an attractive girl when most of his time in his normal body, he was doing his very best to be a Man. One who frequently got emasculated by a sentient, walking mountain of muscle who called himself his boss. Wasn't being a pretty girl somehow confirming this horrible feeling? Sure, the Venusaur managed to retain some muscle mass, but it was still considerably leaner than normal.

How on earth was she one of the prettiest girls Voile had ever seen?! Voile was pretty! She did things like beauty contests! Come on...!

Vinnie's face fell a bit, and she crossed her arms uncomfortably. "I dunno how t'take that," she grumbled quickly in a low, embarrassed voice.

[reservedempath]

Voile blinked. He'd... She'd taken it offensively? But as she considered the situation, she had to remember that it was still Vinnie under the female guise. Vinnie had never been particularly one for wanting to be considered gentle or anything similar to it. Not the way Voile was, anyway. Putting the two side-by-side, Vinnie might have held that gentle air to him, but he didn't seem to advertise it the way the Gardevoir did.

"I didn't mean it as an insult," she reassured him. "I was a little surprised. You are very handsome naturally that I've never tried to consider what you would have been like if you were a girl." Voile bashfully gave a shrug and she shook her head just once, enough that she could hide half of her face underneath it.

"I-I'm sure this is all temporary." She hoped it was temporary. Not that she was suffering from it herself, but for Vinnie's sake and anyone else she knew who was going to get caught up in that unfortunate situation. "I hope no one has teased you about it," was her added afterthought, though she couldn't imagine that happening either. She highly doubted anyone had ever teased him to begin with and they certainly weren't going to start now.

[punchthepistil]

"S'not exactly a thing I ever thought about either. I was pretty invested in bein' a man, you know," Vinnie muttered, unconsciously letting her eyes droop downwards towards the out of place, soft additions to what normally used to be just his pectorals. She shifted her arms in idle discomfort. The Venusaur couldn't claim that he never thought about his own appearance, but his priorities were always that of strength and fitness and masculinity - not the vague, nebulous quality of attractiveness.

The last time he'd wound up in an unfamiliar body, well, all the changes were things that were to be expected. They came with being something inherently and completely different. As it was right now, she certainly couldn't claim it was the biggest change to ever hit her - all her senses were still in place, and all her powers. But there was an uncanniness to being recognizably still Vinnie - still himself - and yet not 'him' at the same time.

But at the very least, she could feel confident about its permanence. "Anyway, this shit never lasts more'n a week," she stated, without a hint of doubt toward the fact. "Anyone who wants t'make a deal of it can deal with me afterwards."

ha ha no event-appropriate icons oops

[tidalwaves]

Marie had found himself in a very similar situation; he'd happened upon the same cursed spring his brother had and he'd found himself in a somewhat foreign body. However, Marie wasn't as bold as his brother, and opted to hide himself(???) in his room for most of the day out of embarrassment. Only after it seemed like most people had returned to their rooms did Marie attempt to venture into the shared hot springs.

A few people still lingering in the co-ed pool didn't bother Marie much, as long as they kept their distance from him. On one particular evening, there was only one other person outside when Marie figured it was late enough to take a quick soak. The figure was familiar ... but in a peculiar way. As he got closer, it didn't take too long for him to figure out who he was looking at.

"Vinnie?"

[punchthepistil]

A new pair of boobs or no, Vinnie found no reason to hide all day long - bolder nature, and all that. She would've spent longer in the water if she could, but that was out of pollen-related consideration for everyone else. That being said, she found herself rather surprised that a certain water-loving Wartortle couldn't be seen soaking it up all hours of the day. Maybe he just preferred cool freshwater to the heat?

Now? Marie's absence was a bit clearer. When Vinnie heard her name called, she instinctively turned to look and... blue hair, winged tufts, freckles. That familiar expression. She blinked, but couldn't call herself completely surprised - in hindsight, it was very obvious.

"M! So uh, you found that other hot spring too, huh?"

abruptly switches pronouns also where are my icons

[tidalwaves]

"Yeah," Marie replied quietly, sounding somewhat ashamed of her answer, despite the fact that her brother was in exactly the same situation.

Once Vinnie had replied, Marie stood still where she was. Still a few feet from the Venusaur. She looked at Vinnie only just long enough to get a good idea of what her brother looked like as a girl. Which, evidently, was notably pretty. Marie pushed that thought aside though, because that was sort of weird.

After a pause, she timidly asked, "Do you mind if I come sit with you or whatever?"

oh boy time to be horrible

[rivalsmokescent]

So far, Char could report that being Bulba was alright, but nothing he'd wanna do forever. The one part that was proving hardest to deal with was the flower connection dealie. The constant noise! It was like hearing whispers too muddled and faint to understand, it was like someone had filled his head with buzzing bees, it was like... a thing. That made it hard to concentrate. For someone who relied on alone time to unwind his tightly-wound aggressive instincts and force the inner wildfire to calm itself, the inability to actually be alone was quickly starting to make him feel like a cornered animal. It wouldn't be so bad if it talked or something -- at least then he could use this unfortunate circumstance to finally understand Bulba and all those bullshit saur-only secrets. But nope. As far as he could tell, it wasn't really doing much of anything.

Except it sort of was. It was getting to be That Time Of Year again, after all, where a young flower's fancy turns to thoughts of vomiting pollen onto every available surface. Not that this was a thing Char would expect to have to deal with: today, he figured, he was gonna make an effort to unwind (ha) by relaxing (ha) in the water (HA). Okay, it sounded dumb, but he had some obligation to try the things he normally wouldn't be capable of doing, didn't he? All he'd managed to do so far was hang mistrustfully at the edge of the spring, but... baby steps.

It was during a bout of nervous pacing that he first noticed Vinnie. (Or rather, Bulba's flower noticed Vinnie's flower. His consciousness just followed a second later.) Lucky for Vinnie, he was spared the awkward scenario of somebody he knew trying to figure out who he was. Being a girl hadn't taken away the leafy-looking hair or the floral tattoos, nor had it masked the (surprisingly... pleasant...?) perfume-ass stink that radiated from him.

So instead of awkward gawking from afar, what she-Vinnie got was "Bulba" doing a very different (but still awkward) kind of staring, breathing a disbelieving (and thoroughly un-Bulba-like) "Holy shit, Vinnie."

take my comparative shorty in return

[punchthepistil]

In the meanwhile, Vinnie was dealing with the sudden change of this feminine side surprisingly well - though really, the hot springs themselves had to take a fair bit of credit. She relished being able to slip into the waters each evening and just letting all her tension and hang-ups just melt away. It was more than just a hot bath - something about the combination of the cool night air, the smell of geothermal steam and the forest all around them soothed the Venusaur utterly. She laid her head back against the edge of the pool and closed her eyes, letting herself be absorbed into the stone. Into the very mountain.

She was so engrossed that Bulba's scent was, at first, only a small echo in an ocean of sounds. It wasn't until that his voice broke through the veil that she jolted out of her soothed stupor. Actually... no, it wasn't just that.

Vinnie turned to stare at him, brows furrowed with suspicion. It was the Ivysaur's smell, there was no mistaking it - but something about his flower felt off. Like it was agitated? His face felt off somehow, and he never swore.

Considering it'd happened to Bulba more than once already, the conclusion wasn't a difficult one to jump to. The Venusaur narrowed his eyes and deadpanned, "So who'd Bulba get body swapped with this time?"

[rivalsmokescent]

Not really surprising that Vinnie figured it out right away. This was one swap that was all kinds of obvious. For Char, the stark differences in the way his tail burned when it was fuelled by Bulba's soul instead of his own were obvious at a glance. He supposed there must have been some kind of equally obvious giveaway for saurs -- mystic hippie brainwaves or a failure to perform their secret grass-type club handshake or something.

For everyone else, the swap usually became blatantly apparent the second Bulba opened his mouth and started talking in Char's crude-ass back-alley slang.

"You ain't never gonna guess," Char responded with equally deadpan delivery (and a super mysterious double negative.) He crouched down at the edge of the spring, thinking he'd just stick to dry land for his conversation. Used to the counterbalancing weight of a tail and wings, he gave himself a moment of terror when he nearly leaned too far in and toppled right into the water. He caught himself with his hands before any accidental baptisms could occur, but it was still enough to remind him of just how much he missed his absent appendages.

Hoping to counter that split-second display of open fear of the water (and maybe shrug off that less-than-impressive move, though why he'd want to impress Vinnie of all people could remain up for debate), he shifted into a sit, letting his legs soak in the water. See, no big deal. Just water. ...It did feel hot against his skin, though, and what a dissonant sensation that was.

"Ain't like that's even the surprisin' thing here, though, is it? I mean, shit, just look at you." No, seriously. Look at you, Vinnie.

[punchthepistil]

Yeah okay it was Char. No wonder his flower felt so unseasoned and unsteady - it must have been as jarring to the Charizard as it had been for Vinnie as a Fire Type. At least this time it was someone that Bulba was relatively comfortable with instead of, say, lifelong rival who tried to scald his face off one time, but it sure was a disconcerting thing to see on Vinnie's end. Especially now that she wasn't sure whether her first instinct should be to bristle away or welcome a fellow plant. Naturally, the Venusaur's own flower seemed to be of the latter opinion, especially considering how unsteady and unseasoned this Ivysaur felt, but... this was the asshole who resented how high-and-mighty know-it-all she apparently was. He'd probably just push it back in her face, as usual.

Vinnie refrained from commenting on Char's balancing misstep - to save him a scrap of his pride, perhaps. It wasn't worth starting up a trade of barbs, she reasoned, sinking a little further into the water.

"Please, I'm not the only one," she grumbled, crossing her arms - Green team had to have noticed Jolt's feminine side by now. "S'still me with different parts. I can deal with that."

The way her face was turning red and the awkward tone probably had nothing to do with his calm being a self delusion.

[rivalsmokescent]

Yeah, Jolt had been kind of an obvious one. Sorry Jolt. But being awesome babes was a given when you were awesome dudes to start with; despite having no genetic relation whatsoever, Char was confident that hotness just innately ran in the Green Team family.

"You sure about that?" Char asked, firing a look off to Vinnie. A look that might have lasted more seconds than he'd usually spare on Vinnie, but who's counting? "I kinda doubt you're takin' this shit totally in stride. Uh..."

He paused for dramatic effect.

(He paused because the droning in the back of his awareness grew insistent enough that it drowned out the thought he'd been working on.)

Focus, boy. Doing his best to tune out the static, Char plowed on. "Don't take it as a compliment, 'cause it ain't, but you're masculine as hell. I ain't exactly spent time imaginin' girl you, but you should be some kinda man-shouldered hairy-legged troglodyte. Instead you're..."

He waved a hand vaguely at Vinnie. He knew the word for it, just... noise. In his head. A lot.

"Hot." Ah yes, that was it. "You're crazy hot. Girl you's miles different from guy you. No way you get used to that instantly."

[punchthepistil]

There was a high-pitched noise that suddenly welled up in Vinnie's throat that might have been a hole being punctured into his soul, and his entire being leaking out at great speed. Her eyes widened and she straight up gaped at Char-with-Bulba's-face with nothing short of complete revulsion.

No no no nonononono he was not hearing this

WHY. WHY CHAR. CHAR, WHY.

Vinnie's voice was shaky as she tried to form the words, "Wh... you..." Okay no. Deep breaths. She grit her teeth. The hands that she'd folded over her chest were clenching her arms as hard as she could as she tried again to speak in slow, measured terms.

"I... never want to hear... those words. Or anything like it. Come out of your mouth. Ever again. For the rest of my life."

If nothing else, Char could at least take some pleasure in finally watching his long time rival's face as (s)he died on the inside.

I AM SLOWER THAN A SNAIL IN MOLASSAS. If this is too far in backdate land no hard feelings.

[bedroomblackbelt]

Green was easily Rick's favorite color. Green was a great color. It was the color of grass stains and poison ivy, super sour limes and military drab, and the color of dollar bills sticking out of a woman's undergarments while she jiggles and dances around for your entertainment. Yeah.

And it was the color of this fair lady's hair as he sauntered up to her in the co-ed pool.

"Couldn't help but notice you match my eyes, angel."

One of said green eyes winked.

I will race you for title of slowest tagger

[punchthepistil]

Green was a pretty good colour. It was neck and neck with pink, actually, which was also a manly colour. You know, of flower blossoms, and spit mingled with blood after you've been punched in the jaw really hard.

It took a moment for Vinnie to actually register who this man was, in fact, referring to. She glanced around, looking for the 'angel' in question before blankly realizing that she... was the only remotely green hued person in the vicinity.

Raising one incredulous brow, she stared back. "Yeah, I guess?" What was he getting at...

we are two turtles in a half shell

[bedroomblackbelt]

"It looks good on you." Rick continued, taking her incredulous stare as an invitation to wade closer.

"Not a lotta' people can pull it off." The cocky grin he'd been sporting suddenly faded as he realized how terrible that sounded. He hunched over and stroked his chin, muttering to himself as if Vinnie wasn't even there. "No no, that doesn't sound right..."

Only a second or two passed before Rick obliged the next line that popped into his head. He tried again, putting his hands on his hips and sticking his chest out proudly.

"Bet you'd look good on me too." Yes. Because that was so much better.