Private Finished What does the fox say?

He hesitated only for a moment when Yoka casually asked if he could drive a tank. "I haven't had any real formal training but there was that... incident in Karakalpakstan where... well, yes. I mean as long as the controls haven't changed TOO much I could at least maneuver th- wait, why the fu-" He caught himself and cleared his throat. "Why on earth do you own a tank?" He'd have thought that either her natural charisma, cunning, or vast suite of tricks could get her out of anything.

Trotting to catch up he tripped over himself and ended up doubled over the counter and face to face with Yona and for a brief moment his world went still. He couldn't exactly tell what it was about her that captivated him but everything around him seemed to fade away in that instant leaving only her.

The second passed all too quickly however and he pushed himself up, mumbling out an apology and retreating a few steps back to Yoka and Steven. The former had asked something about preferences in lodging or something. "What, oh yeah. I mean... I don't mind sharing a room, though I think I might prefer an actual bed over a futon." The idea of a mixed bath grated against his traditional sense of propriety but... fuck it, nothing ventured nothing gained.

"I suppose that because it would be unique to this place the mixed bath would be the better choice, though I will defer to the majority decision." His heart still beat a little faster than normal and he glance flickered back at the woman at the counter. "I should probably also ask what it is you actually DO at a spa. I haven't ever really been to well, anything like this to be honest."

@ReD @Steven

Steven took the key from Yoka when it was offered, sliding it into one of his numerous jacket pocket and zipping it closed. He did'nt want to risk it falling out without noticing. Smiling to Yoka when she sqeezed his arm, he was pretty impressed with all the things the hotel was going to have. He wasn't even completely sure what she meant by tea reading. He knew there was a fortune telling method of the name, a strange thing for a hotel and spa, but he supposed that such techniques would be more common on Manta Carlos.

"Well it is easily the massages that interest me. I'm always pretty stiff." Steven said using the hand of free arm to rub his neck as an indication. "But hitting the baths forst sound like a good start. I'm sure we will both be the upmost gentlemen." Steven responed to Yoka's comment about not revealing stuff, looking to Murphy and smirking. "As for food, anything is good with me. Nothing I'm allergic to as far as I'm aware." Steven awnsered the final question, wondering what the food would be like.

As he took the key, Murphy wrestled with the thought of a place where you were simply meant to relax and be pampered. No, that wasn't quite right, he was fighting with the idea that there was a place focused on relaxation that HE could benefit from. For the most part his 'gift', as it was so kindly put, kept him from ever truly being at ease. The last massage he'd gotten had managed to dislocate his arm and the only time he'd ever interacted with any sort of waterfall was soaring over the edge haphazardly in a canoe.

Yoka's presence, however, made it possible that things might not go so awry and he had to admit the idea of being able to not be on edge every moment of the day appealed to him greatly.

He nodded at Steven's assurance of secrecy but hastily added, "I'm no gentleman I'm afraid but I assure you that whatever transpires here shall remain unspoken, so long as YOU agree to the same, Yoka." He very much doubted that she'd use anything gained from this experience against them in any harmful way but paranoia and several bad experiences made him a stickler for agreements.

Her question of allergies gave him a moment of pause. On the one hand he didn't want to risk insulting the undoubtedly superb chef she'd hired but on the other it would do for him to have food poisoning throughout their entire venture, especially if Yoka had gone out of the way to get them both here.


"I'll eat anything but I might avoid sushi or other raw foods as a preventative measure. You uh, know how things can get with me."

He rolled his shoulders and grinned at the both of them. "I am in agreement with Steven, a hot bath would do wonders I think, I haven't had reliable access to hot water in weeks."

@ReD @Steven

Led by the Yoka, Steven looked around pretty impressed with the place. He had spent time in a couple decent hotel when he was a child, but the place certainly gave them a run for their money. It was going to be a pleasure to make the most of it, seeing as he was unlikely to be able to afford it himself down the line. When Yoka reached pointed out his and Murphy's room, Steven spoke up. "One second." Steven said quickly moving to open the door, slide his phone from his jacket pocket to his jeans instead and haphazdly threw the jacket inside. Only take a few seconds before he face back to the others to follow to the baths.

"Well this is going to be fun." He said, taking a spot behind one of the screens himself and changing out of his clothes and putting on one of the robes. Watching as Yoka get in and smirking before blushing internally as he followed to the waters edge. Slipping from the robe and into the water, he tried his best to keep his back face away from the others. While he knew that Yoka, had likely seen the scar on his back already, he saw no need to flaunt it for Murphy and bring unwanted questions.

That plan failed however as Yoka asked him if he was old enough to drink. He had been hoping that she would have neglected to ask as he didn't want to lie to her. "Close enought that it makes no difference." Steven awnsered. "There no one here but us and I certainly won't if you won't." He smiled at Yoka before leaning his head back and looked to the ceiling enjoying the feeling of the water around him.

(Ooc: sorry for delay, lack of muse plus the site issues meant it took me longer then i hoped. Im assuming this thread is before Steven bday by a few weeks cus that when it started lol.)

Murphy groaned. There it is. He thought. That's how this thing inevitably goes wrong.

It wasn't that he was adverse to magic, quite the opposite really. Magic often made people's lives safer or more convenient. Healing magic in particular had saved his ass on multiple occasions, water magic had saved him from drowning a few times, and he'd be dead had that harpy used some sort of aeromancy to keep him from plummeting to his death... but whenever his life WASN'T actively in danger magic seemed to... nah... Yoka was here and her presence was usually more than enough to offset the myriad of problems he tended to drag along with him.

While he'd been musing, Steven had apparently already stripped and slipped into the bath and he hurried to follow suit but paused suddenly halfway through unbuttoning his shirt. While he was no prude, nor did he have any sort of shame for his body, it was always an anxiety inducing event whenever he removed any sort of clothing in front of people for the first time.

After a moment he continued, setting his clothes aside and... damn, was it proper to take both a towel and a robe? Was he supposed to take just one and come back for the other? Screw it, he took both and followed the other two into the heated pool, stubbing his toe on the edge and falling less-than-gracefully in. The few moments it took him to actually cross over and slide into the water made it apparent why he wore long sleeves and heavy, long pants regardless of weather. His pale skin was marred by a plethora of scars. Not those ones that some of the people on this island had that made them look tough or even cool in some cases, damn their hides, but rather ugly, twisted marks that covered most of his chest, arms and legs. Burns, cuts, compound fractures, claws marks and fang marks of various types had all left some kind of lasting mar on his body.

As he lowered himself into the bath he glanced as his hands as similar cosmetic damage revealed itself. Either the magic or mineral content of the water was apparently enough to remove the concealer he used to hide the visible damage on his hands. It was a minor miracle that his face was somehow the one part of him that remained unblemished.

He let out a slow breath and relaxed. He was among friends, or at the very least one friend and someone they vouched for... well, his employer and someone she chose to trust... probably. It was a mild surprise that Steven wasn't of drinking age. Despite his youthful appearance Murphy had assumed he was some sort of immortal since he'd apparently gotten Yoka out of a situation where her vast set of tricks and skills couldn't save her. It was only now that he realized that the man's eyes were heterochromia. Red and blue... huh...

"Doubt that it really matters though does it?" he added to Steven's reply, grinning at his boss. "Isn't your whole business practice... what did that letter say... 'focused on the corruption of the morals of our younger generation'?"

@ReD @Steven

Steven winched in a sympathetic way, as Murphy entrance to the pool was mired by a stubbing of his tow and less then graceful descent into the water. However as Steven reopened his eyes, he notice what he had been taking some amount of effort to hid of his own. While Steven's scars on his back were clearly the result of malicious intent. Steven couldn't help but noticed the extremely varied nature of Murphy's. Both that looked as if they could have been intentional, and accidental. Feeling self-conscious, that he would annoy Murphy by looking, Steven turned his head away from him, as he spoke about Yoka corrupting the innocent.

It made Steven hopeful, that unlike other he had met on the island, that Yoka would ignore the small amount of time and allow him to drink without worry for what Steven considered a stupid law. However she had made it clear that, she would wait until there was no risk of trouble before she did so. Leaving Steven wondering what she intended, when she said she would provide something better then a relaxing drink.

From Yoka's response Steven managed to gather a few things of note. He knew that she owned a club, and had to admit from those he had met, would not have been shocked if certain services had been available, but she shut down that notice quite completely. Though she apparently had received some kind of letter, bashing her establishment as a den of corruption. Which she attributed to..."Hentai night?" He asked, he knew what hentai was but was curious what could have been so bad about that night to have caused such remarks.

His question though, was cut short but an message over the intercom causing her to apologise and get up to leave. Steven enjoyed the view as she left, hiding herself with her tail or not, he was a young man and not looking was a hard thing to do. Also the curiosity about the establishment, temporarily making him not consider the job offer in full. It would have been better to do so when she was their though, he thought and turned back to Murphy.

"So just how much trouble does are host manage to get herself into?" Steven asked once Yoka was gone. Referencing back to the mail her establishment apparently got, but also to her as a person. He knew first hand that there were people who would harm her, and from the myriad of scars on Murphy, he wondered if any of them had been gained in part due to looking out for her.

Murphy snorted. The Cross Fox might not be a brothel but it was easy to jump to that conclusion when one looked at the... unique events that they tended to host. Hentai night had been especially notorious in the local gossip circles. To be fair NO ONE had expected an actual tentacle monster to show up, and that lust demon hadn't made things any better. It had been fortunate that security was on their game that night.

Yoka's offer of employment drew his attention back to his bathing companion from staring appreciatively at his boss's retreating figure. They'd already established that the guy was underage, what possible job could she offer him in a place that was by nature an eighteen and up club? Well apparently he was skilled enough to bail Yoka out of a hairy situation so there must have been SOMETHING going on with him.

He rolled his shoulder when Steven asked about Yoka's proclivity towards danger. "Yoka is both the cause of and answer to most of her problems." After double checking to ensure that she was indeed gone he continued. "While she certainly doesn't seem to be a malicious person, our hostess tends to be... how to put this... insouciant when it comes to taking risks. She has the devil's own luck from what I've seen."

A brief expression of obvious jealousy flashed across his features but quickly passed to a more somber look as he quirked his head curiously. As capable as he was, Steven was still a minor and thus might not know exactly how Yoka, and in fact, nearly every ancient being tended to treat their more mortal allies.

"If she's offered you a job I assume you're an intelligent sort so I feel like I should give you a warning. As I mentioned, Yoka doesn't really have any ill intent but she always, ALWAYS puts the entertainment and well being of herself above all else, probably in that order. This often leads to situations where she doubles down when it would be prudent to reanalyze what's going on around you which in turn leads to times where people like you and I have to intervene to help her out, often at the cost of our own well being."

He took a breath and slid a little deeper into the water, letting only his face stay above the surface. "But it's not all that bad. I mean she pays well, REALLY well. You get both traditional benefits like health insurance and the like and nontraditional things like invitations to some of the bigger social events on the island and a small measure of respect from those who see past the surface personality of my employer. I'm not sure how but a couple of the other big names on the island seem to know who I am based solely on the fact that I work for Yoka."

Admittedly, it wasn't always GOOD to be known by some of those who'd dwelt upon the islands for centuries but at least it kept them from smiting you on a whim. Besides, the real benefit to him was within Yoka's mere presence. Her luck aura made things almost normal for a time, though things did tend to get a bit hectic as soon as she... left...his presence....shit.

Murphy remained very still for a time, trying to figure out how exactly things were about to go wrong. The notion that things might be okay this time was sloughed as soon as the familiar pang of panic twisted his stomach in a knot. Above there was on overhang of wood and stone, he could easily imagine the whole things coming down and pinning the both of them underwater. The water itself could provide a danger as it was of a magical nature, though at least it wasn't something as volatile as electricity or fire.... wait... wasn't this thing powered by a fire spell?

It was probably time to leave. Quickly.

@ReD @Steven