The Onsen; Sunday Afternoon [07/16].

[sword_chocobro]

The light, almost buoyant mood that has sustained Gladio since his successful walk with Nell the other day had carried over into an extra jog and training session that morning, in addition to the usual routines. But he knew the importance of not pushing too hard, and just because it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest, he needed to remember he wasn't as young as he used to be and to take good care of himself, too.

Which lead him to the onsen that afternoon, for a nice soak to make sure his muscles were good and ready to go into next week, and to just sort of sit and relax, and maybe thinking back on the last week with a faint, proud smile on his face.

It had definitely been a good week...

[[ i was reminded that Gladdy here should be using the onsen WAY more, and work is weirdly slow for a Sunday (atm!), so yeah, open onsen is definitely open~ ]]

Comments

[unusual_sith]

One thing about using the Force - it made it easy to find someone when you wanted to.

That he was at the Onsen was a bonus - Lana enjoyed a good soak.

So, here she was, lowering herself into the water and favoring Gladio with a smile and a nod.

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio, nice and stretched out with his arms resting behind him on the edge of the pool, had an easy smile and nod back for her.

"How are you, Lana?" he asked.

[unusual_sith]

"I'm doing well," Lana answered. "And you?"

[sword_chocobro]

"No complaints," Gladio answered, which for someone who had a pretty big complaint persistently looming over him an awful lot over the last few months, was no small statement to be said genuinely. "Figured a nice soak in here was a good way to round out a pretty good week; it's kind of a shame, I always forget this is even here half the time.

"Got anything exciting planned for your class tomorrow?"

[unusual_sith]

"We're going back to Odessen, of course," Lana said. "Learning about the Mandalorians this time. Warrior people with a lot of traditions and a habit of adopting others. I'm fairly sure Nell's already on her way to being adopted, whether she knows it or not."

[sword_chocobro]

That got a little bit more of a grin out of Gladio and a faint, fond huff. "Those are the warrior women she's always telling me about, right?"

[unusual_sith]

Lana laughed. "Probably. The Mandalorians are all genders and species, but there's a group of the women that have been training her, and she goes to spar with them whenever we're back. They even gifted her a vibroknife."

She tilted her head. "You work with a blade, don't you? You should join us and meet them. Tomorrow or some time when we visit."

[sword_chocobro]

Gladio nodded a confirmation. "Swords are my specialty," he said, "lately, I've been mostly rolling with my greatsword and a katana-style blade I picked up about ten years ago. Not at once; dial-weilding is more Iggy's style. If what I'm wielding doesn't require both hands, my other one's better off with a shield.

"She's actually thrown out the idea of me meeting 'em," he added, thoughtfully, "one of these days. Gotta admit, I've been pretty curious, especially with what she's shown of their lessons. Wouldn't mind a few more opportunities for some spars myself, either."

[unusual_sith]

"Come out with us, then," Lana said. "Especially if you're going to become involved, you should meet the rest of her friends."

[sword_chocobro]

It took Gladio a moment, to realize the connection between the first part if Lana's statement and the second part, his mind having to do a little bit of a shift because he was thinking she was still talking about him being involved in sparring and swords, so the rest of it hit him in a moment of confused disconnect.

Once he realized it was not swords and sparring she was talking about him being involved in, he let out a faintly amused breath.

"You're not wrong," he said, and, despite the grin that surface, he held up a hand in light protest, "but let's not get to ahead of ourselves there, either."

The last thing he wanted was for any of this to wind up just overwhelming Nell or making her feel like there was any sort of expectation of involvement if she wasn't ready for it.

[unusual_sith]

"No?" Lana asked. "How is that ahead of ourselves?"

[sword_chocobro]

"Don't get me wrong," Gladio said, "all she needs to do is say the word, and I'm all in, but we've only just started talking about it..."

And he paused, taking a moment, head tilted thoughtfully, to carefully consider Lana.

"And it's probably a lot for her right now. Hell." He huffed a faint laugh. "I'm a lot for anyone."

[unusual_sith]

Lana chuckled in turn. "Possibly, but wherever this goes between the two of you, I think it's safe to say some form of involvement is, well, involved."