[ORP] Obligatory Spa Scene and Obvious Fanservice

[Suudonym]

Luke's face fell, his posture wilting - somehow more than it already had been. The answer he produced, though immediate and definitive, wasn't exactly reasonable, "Be someone else."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera was similarly confused at Dove's explanation, but unlike Nate who only silently noted it, she decided to vocally note it. "What stress?" She asked, quirking a brow as she leaned over to see past Nate and offer the other girl a quizzical look. As far as she could tell, no one had really done anything stressful or that would piss anyone else off. Well, Yuri did that to her just by being in the same vicinity, but he wasn't in her line of vision and she couldn't hear him, so she'd all but forgotten he was still there. If he and Luke hadn't completely left them without saying as much.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

"You know, I think the steam is getting to me, too," Akira said, getting up and pulling himself out of the water. "If you don't mind, I think I'm going to go get something from my locker."

He turned away, thinking the girls would probably enjoy spending more time with Nate to themselves without his involvement. With Sera giving him weird looks and Dove not looking at him at all, he could tell when he wasn't wanted. Emil seemed a little lonesome, though. "Did you want to come with me, Emil?"

Allowing the blond to follow if he so chose, Akira entered the locker room just in time to catch Luke's response to Yuri. He paused, blinking, before locating the source of the sound and making sure not to intrude upon the two males already there.

"You don't know how many times I've wished for that," he told the red-head, speaking to him through the echos resounding about the room while he himself went for his locker in another aisle.  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove waited until Akira was gone to answer Sera's or word question, her stomach sinking further as she looked up and watched the boy leave. "Things are just weird, she explained vaguely, slipping back into the water , her hair swirling around her as she stepped in a little deeper. "I moved to Kodo trying to escape some of the stress ad ended up finding more than enough of it here to keep my heart racing."

As she turned back to the two sitting along the poolside, she looked of at the locker rooms again, though who she was waiting for she didn't say. "My breakup was horrific, I'm making extensive plans for something I'm not even sure I'm fully ready for, Luke is worrying me for I don't even know what reason, and now Akira's--" She paused there, unsure if she wanted to worry them with the details any further. Until she had spoken with him further and figured things out for herself-- especially his intentions, if he was indeed connected to who she thought he might be-- there was no need to involve innocent bystanders. She amended her thought. "And now I feel like I've run Akira off."

She shook her head and looked to Nate teasingly, hoping to lighten the mood again (since it was now her fault it had soured, at least to some extent). "I think I could almost really use a drink, though I guess I owe you one, huh?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Okay that was not what she'd had in mind when she asked what was wrong, because holy s**t that wasn't any of her business and nor did she want it to be.

Regardless, Sera leaned back and put her weight onto her hands on the ground behind her. "A drink sounds good," she agreed wholeheartedly. "It sounds like you could use a few drinks. Maybe some dancing." A brief pause. "We should go clubbing sometime," the brunette suggested in lighter tones, though whether the suggestion was just for Dove or if Nate was included wasn't specified.

Though she couldn't help the brief furrowing of her brow, "What's Luke worrying you for?"  

[Tori Honoo]

She laughed. "I hear Dragon Dance is a good one," she offered with a smirk to Nate.

At the girl's question, however, she sobered. "I don't know...He was...upset, but making it last time we talked. Honestly, I've been worrying about him, even though I don't know him well. He just seems to have a lot on his plate," she said, drawing her hair back and over one shoulder. "I just really hate seeing people unhappy. It's kind of a weakness."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"That's because it is," she affirmed with a wry grin. "You've never been? Obviously we need to go clubbing for real now, and go to Dragon Dance. It's my favorite." Especially after she'd gone around to a bunch of different ones to try and expand her horizons - turned out she had a perfectly fine one right there all along.

"Luke's upset a lot, I've noticed," Sera continued in lowered tones, as if the named boy would hear her otherwise. "He's got heart problems that the surgery he had didn't fix." That was mostly true, and something Dove would likely know, but it wasn't the entire story. She wasn't even sure if Luke would want a bunch of people to know, anyway; if it were her, she'd tell as few people as she possibly could, or if she had to, she'd try to appease others with as few of the facts as possible. "His plate's always full of stuff."  

[TRHQ Yuri Lowell]

Repede growled at Akira, of whom would have to step over the Growlithe to get into the locker room, since he's kinda taken his post in the doorway.

Yuri looked up as the guy entered and heaved a sigh.

"Tell me about it. I think everyone's wished that at some point in their life."

He then gave Luke a small smile. "But hey, we're gonna fix this."


--

Emil was hesitant, he didn't really know Akira. "Oh... um..." he stammered in indecision. He was kinda getting uncomfortable himself. But he hesitated, watching as Akira walked into the locker room. Repede was still there too he noticed. So Yuri, and maybe Luke, were still there too?

Eventually the boy rose and went in as well.  

[Suudonym]

Luke shrank slightly from the sound of a stranger's response. He wasn't really sure what to think about the words, but somehow, for some reason, they felt belittling. He relaxed slightly, though, at Yuri's reply, the nonchalance of his tone lending to his words' believability. When the boy finally raised his eyes, it was with an expression that all but pleaded to be able to actually believe in that kind of hope, "That's easy to say."

--

Nate watched as the other guys (though one of them barely counted) got up to go off somewhere, watching them briefly with a sidelong gaze as they went. He'd warned them about the awkward (he'd told them, dog), but whatever, that was their choice, he supposed. Maybe they were actually curious or something. Meanwhile that left him with a couple of good-looking chicks, and while he could normally dig that kind of thing, one of them seemed to be holding herself together from some kind of breakdown. This was just not a fantastic day. "Drinks, clubs, dancing, sounds good to me, man," he said with a shrug. Awkward awkward awkward. "Ya'll got way too many worries if you ask me. That kind of lifestyle ain't sustainable."  

[TRHQ Yuri Lowell]

"Yeah well, it's easy to say anything. But that's the first step in making it real."

Yuri had known plenty of people to talk big, but they were often the ones that actually went somewhere. Flynn was one of them. That guy was definitely going places, and he was counting on it.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Akira glared at the pokemon. "This is the mens' locker room," he told the canine, fighting the urge to move away but not wanting the pokemon to think he was backing down. Unfortunately, it was already too late to bother about those concerns.

His allergy to fur was already acting up. He turned his head to the side and sneezed into his arm, his face reddening. "Look," he said sternly. "I need to get something from my locker." His eyes were starting to water. rubbing them with the back of his hand, he turned to Emil. "Sorry, do you know how to get this dog to move...?"

He called back into the locker room. "Yuri! Would you call off your mutt? I don't even know why you put him here in the first place. This is public space. People need to get in and out of here." He attempted to step over the creature in the hopes his leg wouldn't be bitten off.  

[TRHQ Yuri Lowell]

There would be no need. Repede simply moved himself, though the canine did cast the rude guy a one eyed glare. Yuri didn't even respond to Akira, knowing full well that Repede could handle himself. The guy's ranting didn't even deserve a response.

Emil rubbed the back of his head but came in as well. Casting Luke and Yuri a curious but concerned glance.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Obliged but ignored. Well, he supposed it wasn't much different from how he'd treated Dove. Despite the fact that he knew it was absolutely none of his business, Akira longed to understand just what was happening with Luke. After leaving behind Repede, he walked over to where Luke and Yuri were, glancing briefly back over his shoulder to see if Emil was following.

"Please forgive me," he apologized first, bowing his head grudgingly to Yuri. "I'm afraid I've not been on my best behavior this afternoon. Certain circumstances have caused the situation to become a bit...overwhelming." He turned his attention to include Luke.

"...I know I'm pretty much a stranger to the both of you," he said, meeting their gazes, "But as you are Miss Seraphine's friends, I feel that her concerns are also mine." Nevermind that she had made certain to deny any positive association with Yuri. Akira didn't need to make any more enemies than he had to. "So...might I possibly ask what the problem is? I'd like to think I might be able to help."  

[Suudonym]

Was it that simple? The hospital's verdict, so soon after his mother's death and on top of everything else that burdened him, had been such a blow that any kind of positivity or optimism had been crushed before their conception. Total depression had so quickly snatched up his thoughts and debilitated him from even imagining survival. He wanted to live so badly that it hurt, that it interrupted his sleep, that it consumed almost every thought. He took in a long breath and exhaled it slowly. "Then maybe… there's something I can do."

The idea of trying and trying and ultimately failing nonetheless was frightening, but not nearly as much as that of slowly fading away without ever investing a single effort.

At Akira's approach, Luke unconsciously took a small step in retreat, shaking his head lightly, "It's not really… I mean…" The tiny confidence that had somehow found its way to his disposition wilted away into nervousness - or outright terror, perhaps - that he would have to recount his circumstances again. It wasn't exactly an easy subject to talk about.  

[Akira Midoriyama]

Akira's shoulders slumped. It'd been a long shot, anyway. As soon as he saw what his affect has been on the red-head, he held up a hand. "Say no more; I understand. Perhaps your friend Emil might be able to offer you more support than I."

With a sympathetic smile, he stood aside to gesture to the blond boy before heading to the locker he had rented out to keep his belongings in.