A Little R&R [Private/Zenshin]

After flying for about a good half-hour, the fallen angel landed in a somewhat quiet area of the popular tourist town. Upon touching down on the ground, she let her large dark wings recede back inside her. She wore a pink checkered tank top with a white puffy-sleeved t-shirt underneath. It was paired with some faded blue capri pants and some cut wedge heel white sandals. She had a duffle bag swung over her shoulder. The strawberry blonde had come to Hosenka for a bit of R&R. Serenity had never visited the tourist trap before but was intrigued by their hot springs and so, here she was. After turning the corner onto a different street, it was bustling with crowds. Most of the people she saw were wearing yukatas.

She stuck out like a soar thumb but those trivial things didn't bother her all that much. She'd made a reservation for one of the local inns and wanted to check in soon so she could try the hot springs. Upon arriving at her destination, she entered, went up to the front desk, checked herself in and then headed for the elevator. It was a small inn. Only two stories but the atmosphere was great. As she was distracted admiring her surroundings as she headed in the direction of the elevator, she accidentally bumped into someone, almost losing her balance. "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Are you okay?" She hoped she hadn't hurt them.

Vincent was one who would work tirelessly on projects which he began, but even he had his limits. Due to the density of major events within recent memory, Vincent decided to visit Hosenka to relax for a weekend. No jobs, no guild, just him and the beginning of a plan. At the present, Vincent was no longer cursed and had settled the business he had with the entity that had cursed him in the first place meaning that he had plenty of time to proceed planning of something he had been mulling over in his head since his journey to the land of the Yōkai. Elvira might not be interested in this scheme of mine.... Before anything else I need to assemble a team of capable magi - this isn't something I can do alone, unfortunately. While he was mulling over potential candidates for this hypothetical team, he bumped into someone within the inn at which he was currently staying. "My apologies, miss. Are you alright?" The two apologized at the same time. "Yes, I am fine, thank you." What struck the white haired mage first was the woman's appearance; while most of the patrons in the inn dressed in a manner similar to the villages he had seen in Nazo, she dressed quite flamboyantly.

The second aspect of the woman into which he walked was a faint magical power. A mage? What a nice coincidence. Most of the patrons dressed in their yukata weren't magically aligned, but she had that unmistakable air of a magic user. Perhaps she would be interested in my little project... I'll need to speak with her in order to know for sure. "Would you mind sitting down and having a short chat?" Upon finishing his question, Vincent would gesture towards a few wooden chairs surrounding a small table in the lobby of the inn. He confidently felt as though he could ascertain whether or not she would be the kind that was willing to assist in the kind of job he had in mind. If she was, then he would extend a business proposal and, if not, he would simply leave her be and allow them both to continue their retreats in peace.

Serenity had bumped into a tall white haired man. They apologized at the same time. This made the strawberry blonde giggle for a brief moment before he let her know he was fine followed by him asking the same thing to her. "Oh yes, I'm perfectly unharmed." The man was a bit taller than her. His hair was as white as pure snow and he had a rather nice face. The fallen angel could sense a great deal of magic power emanating from him. She was now intrigued. As she was lost in thought, the man invited her to chat and the gestured towards a few wooden chairs surrounding a small table in the lobby of the inn. Serenity gave him a nice friendly smile. "Oh, I would love to. Though I did want to put my things away and try the hot springs. If you want to we could chat there. I believe the brochure for this place mentioned mixed bathing hot springs." Serenity said acting as if it was no big deal but, she knew most men would either jump at a chance like that or get incredibly humble and flustered. Either way, she enjoyed her little mind games and watching the reactions of those she played them with. The strawberry blonde never grew tired of it. She had a lot of time on her hands and needed to keep herself entertained one way or another. Well, if this man ended up boring her. Serenity could always go out later tonight and kill someone. From what it seemed there weren't that many mages here, giving her a lot of potential targets. It was like heaven for the murderous young lady.

Vincent raised his eyebrow at the young lady before him. He considered her invitation for a few seconds before ultimately deciding against it; the wizard preferred to only submerge himself in water when he was completely alone. The hot spring, as far as he was concerned, was a place for solitary thought and complete relaxation rather than a place to discuss business. "I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to politely decline. I prefer to soak in solitude, but by all means get yourself situated and enjoy what the inn has to offer. I don't mind waiting." With that, the space mage walked past the strawberry blonde and towards the table he had pointed out a moment ago. The Crystal Swan mage pulled the chair out and sat down with both his elbows resting on the table and his head resting on his hands. In his mind's eye he could see a relatively weakly fortified portion of the great wall that separates Pergrande from Sin which he had visited the last time he was in the nation of knights. It was the ideal place to launch his plan given its limited fortifications, but he would need a very clear route of escape. The knights of the Pergrande Kingdom definitely had the advantage of strength, experience, and resources, so he needed to compensate greatly with the only thing he could: cunning.

Serenity watched him think for a moment before he politely declined her offer, saying he preferred to take baths alone. Well, that was certainly a new one. She couldn't recall getting a reaction like that before. That settled it. She wanted to find out what made this one tick. She watched him go and sit down at the table he'd gestured to before. He said she could take her time to get settled in then come talk with him. The strawberry blonde stayed silent to think about her options. It was then that it hit her. She gave the man another sweet and friendly smile before she spoke. "I understand. I would hate to keep you waiting for very long though. How about you accompany me to my room? I can take a quick shower and we can chat over some tea or room service? I just checked in before I ran into you." She got excited to see how he would respond to this offer. The last one she only did to see his reaction to a strange woman suggesting he bathe with her in the nude. This time she was being serious. This wasn't a first but, it was definitely rare.

The wizard's attention was broken away when he heard the woman's response. Tea? Hm... I can't remember the last time I had a good cup of tea since I arrived here. Come to think of it, I can't remember having any tea at all since I've been in Fiore. And she does still need to put her things away... Vincent, feeling the pangs of hunger as well as wanting a small taste of home, made up his mind on her second offer. "I think I'll take you up on that offer. I haven't eaten since arriving in Hosenka, so I could use a good meal."

Vincent would follow the stranger to her room, something he would normally be too paranoid to do, but he didn't see her as a legitimate threat on account of the small magical power he felt from her. She would need to be hiding her true power if she was a threat and the chances that this was the case were quite low. Still, he was not immune to knives in the back, so his guard remained up for every second he was in her presence. The white haired mage would sit in the first chair he could see and his eyes would never lose sight of the mysterious woman. "Now that we're more comfortable, allow me to introduce myself. I am Vincent Gauss of Crystal Swan, who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

The strawberry blonde couldn't help but get a tad bit excited when he took Serenity up on her offer. "Lovely. Follow me." She said, taking the lead. It didn't take them long before they arrived at her room on the second floor. Serenity pulled out the room key from her pants pocket, unlocked the door, opened it and walked inside. The room was eastern oriental style. It had tatami mat flooring. Paper screen sliding doors that divided the front of the room where there was a low table and and set of small chairs, a large closet, a door that she presumed led to the bathroom. And the back of the room where there was a queen sized bed with cream white bedding and a nice balcony that overlooked the rest of the city. At the end of the bed was a large dark wooden chest and on top of the chest was a beautiful pale pink yukata with accents of red and little red fish printed. The obi belt was yellow with red and white stripes, all folded nicely and neatly.

Serenity set down her things by the entrance. She then turned to the white haired mage. She could tell he had his guard up. He was certainly no fool. She walked over to the bed, allowing him the freedom to get comfortable. The man introduced himself as Vincent Gauss of Crystal Swan. She'd heard of that guild along her travels throughout the continent. "It's a pleasure to meet you Vincent, I'm Serenity Evans. However I do not belong to any guilds. Feel free to make yourself comfortable, I'm going to take a quick shower." She said as she walked over to the bed and grabbed the yukata off the chest. Then without another word, Serenity went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Once inside, the strawberry blonde turned the shower on to let the water heat up while she undressed herself. She stepped into the shower once the water temperature was just right for her.

As the warm water ran down her bare body, she would hum a little tune pleasantly. However, the melody had an eerie feeling to it. Serenity washed her hair and body with the shampoo and body wash that had been provided by the inn. It felt refreshing and the warm water washed away all the tension in her muscles that had been strained from her flight here. Now that she was all clean, the fallen angel turned the water off, stepped out and dried herself off. She put on the yukata and left her damp hair down so it could dry naturally but left the towel around her neck so her wet hair wouldn't get the yukata wet.

Shortly after, Serenity opened the door, re-entering the main part of the room. She looked over to Vincent and smiled. "Sorry to have kept you waiting. How about some tea?" She said before walking over to the sink and small stove where a stone tea pot and a container full of assorted teas. There was a cabinet above the sink and stove that stored oriental tea cups. "Do you have any preferences for tea Vincent?" She asked him as she looked through all the different kinds there were to choose from.

"No guild? That's certainly a shame for one with your talents; perhaps you could consider joining Crystal Swan?" She had been nothing but kind to him so far, though she hadn't exactly given him a reason to trust her quite yet. If she was a liar, then she had the good sense not to lie about being in a legal guild, for that could be easily checked. Being a guildless mage wasn't exactly uncommon in Fiore, but they were definitely in the minority compared to mages who have chosen to associate themselves with one of the few legal or independent guilds. The inside of the strawberry-blonde haired woman's room was beautifully styled after the rooms one would find in Midi which brought back memories, both pleasant and unpleasant, of his time in a kitsune village. Vincent considered transforming into one to strengthen the more pleasant memories he felt, but decided against it on account of that form robbing him of his ability to cast magic. Eventually, Serenity entered the shower and came out wearing that ever so familiar attire that matched the aesthetic of the room and the inn. The space mage still hadn't had the opportunity to do the same and was thus still in his typical robes that he wore on pretty much every occasion.

"It's completely fine - you're treating me to tea. Waiting for a little while while you get situated is the least I can do. As for which teas I prefer, I'm quite fond of white tea. There was something of a 'tea culture' back in the Academy where I studied magic, if you could believe it. It's a bit sad that Fiore on the whole doesn't exactly share the same interest, though it's not entirely unsurprising. Tea isn't exactly the most exciting of topics." The wizard was a bit more excited than he let on, for the last time he drank white tea was after his graduation and with all the people who had taught him over the years. This would be a good opportunity to reminisce on times passed. "Please serve it in this." The robed mage would hold his palm towards the sink and materialize a small tea cup on an equally small plate. The exterior of the cup was a solid black while the interior was a solid red. The plate shared this color scheme with the majority of it being red with a black trim. Unlike the cups that were provided, his was a bit wider and had a handle. This was the very same cup and plate given to him on that day and he had kept it for just such an occasion. The space mage had weighed the risks of showing some of what his magic was capable of to a stranger who didn't completely have his trust yet, but decided that this small action wasn't enough to deduce his magic type or, at the very least, wasn't enough to determine the full extent of what he was capable.

Vincent noted that he was a fan of white tea as he talked excitedly about his magic learning days that had an association with tea. Serenity found his excitement to be rather endearing. She listened to him talk as she looked for white tea to make. The strawberry blonde found one rather quickly and began to prepare it when Vincent approached her, holding out his hands, asking her to use this as a western style teacup of black and red color with a matching plate materialized in his hands. Serenity was surprised but most intrigued. This must have been a small sample of what his magic could do, she thought to herself as she gently took the teacup from Vincent's hands while casually allowing her own petite, soft hands to touch his. While Serenity wasn't too much of a flirt, when she found someone of the opposite gender who piqued the fallen angel's interest, it was a different story. Serenity brewed the tea with poise and grace. Her slightly damp hair gave off a mild yet sweet floral scent from the shampoo she'd used, if Vincent got close enough to her, he would easily catch a whiff of it. The tea was soon ready. The strawberry blonde turned the stove off, removing the freshly brewed pot of tea off it. She carried it over to the table where she had set the cups shortly before. She knelled down carefully as to not spill the tea. Serenity then poured some tea in one of the cups provided in the room and the rest in the cup Vincent had given her. She placed the still hot tea pot on a coaster that was on the table. As she got up off her knees, she stepped on the bottom hem of her yukata, causing her to fall forward. "kyaa!"

Vincent took a small drink from the cup filled with the white tea that the mysterious strawberry blonde mage had filled. It's alright. Despite his rather neutral reaction towards the hot drink, he was actually quite surprised that someone in Fiore managed to brew a tea that didn't taste like utter swill and admired Serenity's apparent skill. While there were certainly specialty shops or places he could go for a halfway decent cup of tea, he found that, for the most part, the quality of the brews were generally less than what he could expect to find in his home kingdom. "I must say Serenity - this brew is not bad at all. Thank you." Shortly after these words of both praise gratitude, the seemingly clumsy stranger tripped over her robe-like attire and headed head first towards the floor of the room. Acting instinctively and decisively, the dark mage would be caught mid-fall my Vincent, though not by conventional means. The white haired man would not lay a finger on the girl which brewed the tea, though her body would be caught as if he had nonetheless. Just as if he had both caught her and pushed her back to her feet, the stranger would be pushed up while Vincent slightly squinted his eyes in concentration. "You should be a little more careful Ms Evans. Might I recommend raising your Yukata while we're inside, or simply sitting down and remaining stationary?" After her response to his suggestions, he would prompt her for a bit of information. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but would you mind sharing a bit of your background with me? It might not surprise you to learn that I'm cut from quite a curious cloth and have quite a fondness for learning new information about the world around me - which includes the people in that world."