smash_logs | I miss video games

I miss video games

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.

title or description

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Voile nodded with a form of warmth without too much enthusiasm. "Yes. I ventured here earlier, oddly enough. X was bathing - that's what they call it, right? - and he said I should join him. And we talked about him. And me. And other little things like that."

If anything, she wasn't always the most graceful with her words, but considering Cammy had seen her at her very worst, Voile didn't feel any particular pressure to be something or someone she wasn't. It was a rather comfortable feeling, too.

Cammy grinned and sighed contentedly, leaning her hair back in the water a bit.

"X, hmm? I can't say I've spoken to him much. I'm glad to hear you're relaxing, though."

Edited 2013-04-11 02:49 (UTC)

Did it really seem like she didn't relax often? Voile supposed that wouldn't have been untrue. She had a hard time just accepting things and not fretting about. It wasn't something she was proud of, honestly. But that was why Cammy was around - to keep her from getting too lost in the world of excessive and unnecessary worry.

"He's always been very nice to me. Curious, too. I think he prefers to ask me about myself than he is to talk about himself. I guess most people are like that, though." She smiled a bit sheepishly. "Or I could be coming off too strong. Some prefer a silent type and I might be too friendly."

The blonde tilted her head to the side, and reached over to gently touch Voile's shoulder before placing it back on the stone rim of the spring.

"I hardly think that's it. You're the type of person that makes others want to listen, your speech is just so soothing!"

She laughed, lightly. "Silent types are over rated, anyways. That's what I think."

It was hard for Voile to not blush at Cammy's words. But the blonde was always so kind to her. Supportive, something like a sister and considering she came from a rather large family - even if she didn't remember them well - she still appreciated them. And in that respect, she appreciated Cammy beyond being a simple friend. There was no such thing as a 'simple' or 'mere' friend. Cammy was definitely family.

"S-soothing?" she asked shyly with a bright smile. "That's a silly thing to say. No one's ever said it before." But she supposed it was in her nature.

"Anyway, I suppose you could be right. You seem much more... charismatic, I think. Everyone likes you, right? You're pretty. I look at you and see... a person I would like to be more akin to." Cammy was the perfect representation of what a human girl was.

Cammy likewise was flustered at Voile's kind words, slightly dipping her head and averting her gaze with a sheepish smile on her face. It was nowhere near the first time she had been complimented on her looks, but with such an earnest tone it still managed to come as a surprise. She wondered if the huge scar over her cheek was really as big as she felt it was, if people continued to overlook it. And when it came to things deeper than that...

She hadn't always been this way. There was a time before Smash, and there was a time before Delta Red. She had been a remorseless assassin once, with no different a reaction to killing an innocent man to making breakfast in the morning.

But that was in the past. And Voile didn't know anything about it. If Cammy had any say, no one at this school would ever know anything about it. She met the Gardevoir's eyes again.

"I should be saying the same to you!"

Voile didn't agree. In comparison to human girls, she thought she was quite plain and she had admitted that before. She had always said she wasn't anything special, so it was always surprising to have people compliment her. Voile supposed in hindsight that she should have been accustomed to it. After all Marie had told her on more than one occasion that she was 'pretty' at the very least.

She blushed - and visibly at that. Brushing her hands over her cheeks, she smiled sheepishly. "You're flustering me. You don't need to do that." Then she gave an embarrassed shrug as she tried to hide under her hair. "But thank you, Cammy."

As an afterthought, she continued quietly. "You're always here for me. Like... a sister. So I'd like to consider you family... I know I'm a Pokémon and it's a strange thing for me to say, but it's just how I feel."

Ha.

Like a sister. She didn't know why that particular turn of phrase rang through her chest so loudly, but it was like she had been waiting for it to be said for years. She had sisters, she had many. Not true sisters, but girls like her that had their brains wiped and their bodies put to work, doing Bison's violent, dirty deeds. She had saved some, but they all had their own lives to put back together. Though they were grateful, there were no late night calls or shared laughs over something they saw on television. Her relationship with Voile had been like nothing she had ever had before in her life.

Like a real sister. Cammy took the opportunity to disregard personal space, and laid her head on Voile's shoulder. She sighed happily.

"I appreciate that more than you know."

The motion in itself was not something Voile foresaw, which was... ironic considering her precognitive abilities. Or perhaps she had known of it in the back of her mind, but was so frequently in various states of denial that she'd categorised the notion as impossible - improbable at at best. Yet there it was. Blonde on her shoulder, and an intensely... moving sentiment that she knew was not hers alone.

How much did Cammy really know of her? That empathy. The emotional conducting. The way she wore every heart as if it were her own. Cammy certainly knew more than others did and that came with spending more time with Voile than anyone else did. Voile still hadn't really fleshed everything out, but that was because difficult to explain and she was the one who experienced it. But no one had ever said feelings were easy.

After a moment's hesitation and the surprise that came with it, she lifted an arm and slipped it around Cammy's shoulders. "I... think I have at least a slight idea," Voile began with a modest smile. "I'm not sure what you experienced where you came from, and I... won't ask, but I hope that you know you can always rely on me. I spend so much of my time depending on you that I'm afraid that maybe you forget you can do the same with me."

Cammy left her head on Voile's shoulder, looking down at the ripples in the water around them. She felt slightly guilty over not being able to share everything with Voile, a girl that had been so open with her. But, she knew the Gardevoir would understand. And she didn't mind. She lived to have people rely on her, reliance meant trust. And to have another's trust was so precious. She smiled to herself.

"Thanks, sis," she giggled.

Maybe in any other situation it might have made her a little uncomfortable, but there was something very welcoming about this closeness. She squeezed Cammy once - gently - and found the curve in her mouth growing. "It's nothing." And it was. It was absolutely nothing. It was second nature. It was all Cammy was worthy of and more. If anything, it wasn't enough.

"It's nice to get away from the academy for a little," Voile admitted. "No school work, no essays, nothing like that. We just get to relax. I'm not very good at relaxing, but I think this is the first time I've gotten somewhat close to it. I think I'm going to miss all of this when we have to go back. What about you?"

"Hmm... definitely." Cammy was never especially good at relaxing either, but all the time spent in the pleasant steam of the hot springs, completely and utterly without curses, was definitely something she could get used to. Unfortunately, all good things had to end.

"I wish the campus had a steam room, though I'm sure something like that would be rather expensive." It was possible Smash had blown its budget on the state of the art stadium. Come to think of it... where had they even gotten that kind of money?

"I wonder..."

Voile tipped her chin up to eye nothing in particular as she temporarily lost herself in thought. "I think we could probably do some fundraising if you're as serious about this steam room as you sound like you are."

"Or we can also ask the rest of the academy if they'd be interested. That sounds like something everyone would benefit from. For all we know, maybe even the headmaster would like that. Everyone has a little bit of tension to get rid of and they can't always come all the way up here. A steam room would be very convenient and practical."

It sounded like a good presentation point to her. Who could say no to that?

Though wishful thoughts of Smash's very own steam room were mostly in passing, hearing Voile talk about it so realistically made it seem... Well, kind of realistic, she guessed.

"Hmm... Do you think I should bring it up? I know I would always be using it... I'm sure there are other students that would agree..."

"I think you don't ever know unless you try. At least if you present the idea and it gets turned down that you actually presented it."

She tilted her head in such a way that she could press her lips to Cammy's forehead. "If you never at least try then you spend forever and a day wondering what could have been. Why have any regrets?"

Cammy laughed.

"What did I just say about your speech being soothing?"

She blinked, "I didn't think that was very soothing at all. But I suppose I am feeling a little nurturing. A part of me that just never goes away, admittedly."

"I would use the word 'reassuring'," Cammy replied, "And I certainly don't mind it."

"Reassuring."

Yes. That made more sense. She was nurturing and consoling, so reassurance was a part of that. It was how she was made and she imagined it was something inherent. Was it possible for a Gardevoir to be anything else? A curious thought, indeed.

"Well. Whenever you need me to be, you won't have to look far. I'm glad that you're getting use out of it."

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