The Onsen; Tuesday Afternoon [04/25].

[pun_king]

A thrilling and exciting excursion to the onsen had been planned, and, even though it took a little bit of doing (and a few useful Internet videos!), Graham had convinced the staff at the onsen that Triumph had just as much a right as both himself and Belle to partake in the relaxing hot springs...more, even! Because look at how cute!

Once they got in, Triumph wasted no time in prancing up to the edge and then pausing, taking extreme caution before slipping in and finding a good spot, and Graham, chuckling, grinned over at Belle.

"Well," he said, "I was going to say ladies first, but apparently, chivalry is dead."

Still, he ducked his head and gestured with an arm and offered, "Ladies second?"

[[ Graham's there, clearly, with the trusty mount and the gently modded bookworm, but the onsen is open for all your onsen needs! ]]

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[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I can hardly begrudge him," Belle said, shaking her head and smiling as she carefully stepped into the water. "Look how pleased he is!"

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"He does look pretty pleased, doesn't he?" Graham agreed, taking a moment to just watch fondly as Triumph scooted around in the water with a bunch of contented squeaks and grunts. "Like a pig in mud. Or a squirrel in a bottle of rum. Or...well....a capybara in a hot spring!"

And even though Graham could probably watch Triumph swim around all day, he did come to enjoy the onsen a little himself, too, and slipped right in, to settle in against the wall with a happy sigh.

"Pretty nice," he said, cracking open one of his closed eyes to smile over at Belle, "right?"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Very nice," Belle agreed, sinking a little further into the water. "Why haven't I been here before?"

Probably because she hadn't known where it was! Or had anyone ask her to go.

"I'll have to try and explore more of the island before I have to go."

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"You definitely should," said Graham, an opinion that was not news, of course, but would never cease to be emphasized. He then sank down into the water until it was level with his chin, and then the rest of what she said processed and he frowned.

"Before you go?" he asked, repeating it as if to make sure he'd heard it right. "Where are you going?"

Leave it to Graham to not make the connection, despite it being far from the first time she'd mentioned going somewhere this last week or so, and the upcoming graduation quite yet.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I'll have to return home sometime," Belle said regretfully. "I don't plan on leaving before the summer is out."

And who knows, maybe there could be reasons for her to stay longer!

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Graham seemed to sink a little lower with his disappointment at the first part of Belle's response, but he bobbed right back up again with a sigh of relief, and a grin to match.

"Oh, well, that's still a long ways away from now!" he said. "And that means you'll be around for all the summer activities, too! You almost had me worried for a second there, Belle! That's still so much time to explore!

"Hey!" His mind seemed to immediately bounce from one thought to the next. "Speaking of exploring, have I ever shown you Triumph's favorite rock?"

It was a very popular travel destination, you know!

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"It's months away," Belle said with a hint of forced cheer. This was a pleasant day that would stay pleasant! "That does leave plenty of time for exploring and for summer activities."

And maybe for coming up with a reason to stay. Who knows!

"I'm not sure I was even aware that Triumph had a favorite rock," she confessed.

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"Boy, does he ever!" said Graham with a laugh, especially as Triumph, ears already perked up at the mention of the rock, started swimming over to Belle so he could start chirruping and grunting and squealing to let her know alllllll about it.

Graham listened with a fond pride as Triumph carried on like that, his grin gone almost a little sheepish once he finished.

"He says I should probably show you sometime," he explained. "And he's right. It really is a pretty great rock."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle grinned at Triumph and raised her hand to offer some scritches.

"I would love to see your favorite rock, Triumph. Thank you for inviting me!"

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Merrily chirping, Triumph eagerly nudged his very damp head into Belle's hand, yes, for all the scritches, please! The onsen was quickly giving his favorite rock a run for its money right now!

"It's in the preserve," Graham added helpfully, pleases to see the two of them getting on so well. "So it's a really nice walk. Or ride, if you wanted to go that route. Triumph knows the way like he knows the palm of my hand!"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

So many scritches for the very best capybara of them all.

"I haven't spent much time there," Belle said thoughtfully. "And I would love if Triumph were willing to offer a ride. I've ridden horses before but that seems quite different."

Horses didn't make noises that were nearly as cute.

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"It sounds like maybe you haven't spent much time in a lot of places, Belle," Graham pointed out, but his smile was lightly teasing, and maybe a little apologetic,for the teasing. And then he laughed a little. "But that's alright! With me and Triumph by your side to guide you, we'll have that fixed in no time!"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"It's possible," Belle said in a low voice, looking around as she spoke, "that I may have spent more time reading than exploring."

Triumph was still getting his scritches while she spoke.

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There may have been a few gentle ripples appearing on the water's surface, as a certain capybara who was very much enjoying the attention's hind leg twitched a little with appreciation.

Graham, meanwhile, gasped. "You?" He then gaped, leaning forward a little bit himself with his clear shock of it all. "No! I simply cannot believe it! Say it ain't so!"

But then he leaned back again with a chuckle, all the way back against the wall comfortably.

"You knoooow," he mused, "going on adventures through books is all well and good, but there's a lot of adventures to be had first-hand right here in your own backyard, Belle!"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"I do long for adventure at times. I just need to be more proactive at finding it," Belle said. "Perhaps I just need an adventuring companion."

Good thing there weren't going to be any issues going on adventures this week, right? Everything would be calm and normal!

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"Hmmmmmm," Graham, eyes squinted, fingers stroking his chin, hummed speculatively as he went very thoughtful. "An adventuring companion, you say? Now, where in the world could you possibly find someone like that, I wonder..."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Triumph?" Belle asked the capybara, stroking his nose. "Do you know where I might find someone to adventure with?"

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Nudging his nose up into Belle's hand to encourage more petting, Triumph also gave out a trumpeting series of little squeaks, and Graham had to grin for a moment before he put on a slightly bewildered face, and started to look around a little.

"Huh," he said. "That's funny. He said he does know where you might find someone who's great at adventuring, and he's right here, in this very onsen! But that can't be! It's just you and me here! Unless..."

Here, he leaned toward Belle with a speculative look, brows lifted both shamelessly and expectantly.

"You don't think he could mean..."

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle raised her eyebrows and leaned closer to Triumph.

"Did you mean that Graham would be a good person to have adventures with, Triumph? That does seem likely. I expect knights have all sorts of adventures."

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Triumph trumpeted something back, and Graham decided that he was getting only the best treats when they got back to the stables later, with this performance.

"He said," he faithfully translated, "only the best adventures."

Well, maybe not...entirely faithfully, because Triumph had also pointed out that Graham wasn't a knight yet, but that hardly seemed like relevant context in the grand scheme of things.

[noonedecidesmyfate]

"Well then." Belle offered a few more pats before smiling over at Graham.

"Graham, perhaps we could go adventuring over the summer?"

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Triumph gave a proud little chirrup, lifting his chin because he knew he did a good job and there'd be treats for him later, and those few more pets were also definitely quite good.

"Belle," Graham said, smile beaming before he ducked his head with a proper sort of bow...or at least as proper as one could when mostly submerged in water, complete with elaborate twirl and swing of his arm, "it would be my absolute honor!"

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle could not properly curtsy while soaking. She would have to settle for scratching under Triumph's chin while nodding.

"Well then, Graham, we'll have to start planning some adventures for our summer. With Triumph, of course. Perhaps we can start with his favorite rock?"