maskormenacelogs | (no subject)

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: An hour outside De Chima
WHEN: January 10-12
WHAT: imPorts are treated to a Swear-In that’s nothing but a weekend of relaxation at a brand new resort and spa!
WARNINGS: Possible mild nudity

It’s been a long few months, hasn’t it imPorts? Between the invading monsters (yikes!), evading the apocalypse (double yikes!) and then some fear toxin on behalf of your good pal Joker (triple yikes!), imPorts are overdue for a vacation. And wouldn’t you know it? One is coming right up.

Oh, yeah. It’s a Hot Springs Episode.

Welcome to Elysium Resort and Spa! When you come in, you’ll get a brochure with all of their offerings. They’re a little confused, perhaps, espousing relaxation ideals of every culture, clearly having just thrown all of their relaxation spaghetti at the wall to see if it sticks, but they’ve got the spirit! The smell of eucalyptus fills the air as you toe off your shoes and change into the slippers and robes that they have available for you as they usher you into what must be, for some, absolute paradise.

You can find rooms for all persuasions here, all purporting various health benefits. They have your typical fare - salt rooms, saunas, steam rooms, buckets of water with ladles resting in them to pour over the heaters to allow them to sizzle - but be warned! Some of these rooms climb up to ridiculous temperatures, leaving the bottoms of your feet red and toasty as you jump in (they suggest sandals, but who reads instructions anyway?), and other rooms are filled with ice as you’re plunged into what may as well be a walk-in freezer. Sometimes the doors are a little fiddly, though. Don’t worry - you won’t get trapped in here long enough for any real harm to come to you. But you might get a little uncomfortable as you rattle at the door, one of the employees eventually hurrying to let you out and offering their sincerest apologies, and won’t you have a gift certificate?

If those rooms aren’t enough for you, you can check out the baths. Salt baths, chilled baths, and hot tubs galore are here for imPorts, but that’s not all. Ever wanted to bathe in tea? In wine? Would you like to sink into a bath filled entirely with clay? How about getting all your dead skin chomped off by fish? It’s all here for you! Just try not to drink the bathwater - or, heavens, eat the fish. Those aren’t for you!

As imPorts stroll outside, they’ll see a beautiful vista overlooking the mountains, attached to a spacious hot springs (it’s natural, they claim, but who’s checking?) where imPorts can simply relax and enjoy the scenery. After that, why not pop inside to where some of the technicians will absolutely insist that you get a massage. Or a mani-pedi - yes, even you, big guy. Or, really, anything that your heart desires.

Once you’ve been poked and prodded and primped to your heart’s content (or discontent, as it may be), the spa open until the wee hours of the morning, it’s time to go and dine on some of the local cuisine, prepared fresh by the resort’s resident chef with a distinct eye to fresh, clean flavors and a truly ridiculous amount of salad. They want to make sure that you’re healthy inside and out, after all!

Before arriving at the spa, everyone was able to choose who they wanted to room with. But it seems that their systems got a bit scrambled during their grand opening, so you may find yourself bunking with a stranger instead. They’re deeply apologetic, of course, but it really would be easier for them if you’d just be nice for an evening and give it a shot. It’s only one evening, right? It’s not like you’ll be roomed with a serial killer. Probably. Given the imPort population there’s, what, a five percent chance?

The hotel rooms themselves are beautiful and spacious, each with a window looking out over the lovely view of the scenery below. It’s the perfect way to end your night… until 3 AM when an alarm begins to blare and all of the guests are ushered outside in the chilly winter air while firefighters come to check the place out. It’s a false alarm (some brat must have pulled it, the manager says apologetically, ready with more gift certificates), but hey, maybe this is a good chance to get to know your neighbors!

The next day, guests are free to take advantage of the resort’s facilities once more, or they can go hiking in the mountainous trails available to them, complete with regular rest stops with firepits, with the staff more than happy to pack lunchboxes and fixings for s’mores.

After they come back and have a thankfully uneventful night’s rest, buses will be ready to take them back to civilization, along with goodie bags filled with luxury goods and an earnest invitation to come back anytime! But maybe next time, wait a couple of months so they can iron out the kinks in their system.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He looks at her with interest. "Really? That must be useful." If you have the power to stop fires as well as start them, it has to make using the first part easier.

He sighs, resting his chin on one hand as he looks out at the crowd. "If this is a prank, whoever did it's gonna have Hell to pay."

"It would be easy to get some confessions, I think, what with that enormous gun of yours," she's joking obviously, what with that grin on her face, but she thinks it's true. That damn huge piece of firepower could likely scare the shit out of most people here.

Thinking a little more on it, she can't help but ask, "You know, I think I'm a little surprised to see you here. Or, myself too I guess. Fuck knows what I was thinking when I hopped in that bus." She still has some distaste for automobiles. "Especially with this mischief. What made you come along?"

He laughs, briefly. Not a use he'd actually go for, but it would probably be effective with a lot of the people here.

It's a moment before he answers the question - he sits back up and stretches back first. "Well, think about it. If you were some weirdo with a grudge against imPorts, when would you want to attack?"

Though the longer they sit here, the more it does start to look like this, at least, really is just a dumb prank.

"When everyone is half-asleep and caught off their guard," Sal admits, and she sees the logic in it. After all, it's not as if she's never woken up with a knife to the throat before. There's plenty of reasons she can't sleep well at night; but many of the other imPorts around them are groggy and dozing, if not just irritated.

"An ambush in the middle of the night, through a bunch of fucking chaos and confusion, well, it isn't exactly the worst plan." Right up until the point those super-powered strangers get an idea of what's happening anyway.

Sal shakes her head, attempting to dispel that dark thought. "Now, wouldn't that make for a shitty weekend getaway."

"Would definitely ruin the whole 'rest and relaxation' thing they're going for." Somewhere in the crowd, someone loudly declares that they're just going to lie down and sleep right here if they can't go back in yet. Wolfwood reconsiders his statement. "Ruin it even more."

He digs his cigarettes and matches out of a pocket, casually shaking a cigarette free of the pack and tucking it in the corner of his mouth. And pauses. She did offer to share the drink.

He tips the pack towards her. "You smoke?"

Sal looks at the pack of cigarettes, surprised. It's such a small, simple gesture, but one she isn't used to being offered. Something about it makes her remember fragments of her past, when she was much younger and friendship wasn't just a blade in the darkness.

"Back in my world, we had something a little different," she says, reaching up to take a cigarette. "Only mages could stomach using it, and it was hard to come by out in the Scar."

She moves the cigarette up to her mouth and holds back a sudden shiver. Whatever sharp memory is worrying her is pushed aside; Nicholas isn't like Alothenes, and she trusts him not to try and betray her in that way. As a gesture to prove it, she creates a tiny flame on the tip of her finger to light the end of the cigarette.

Taking a puff, she reaches out with the flame to offer him the same. "Guess this works too," she says, smoke rolling from her lips.