Atlantis

[Bloodedge]

After a few moments passed, Kou found that the only thing keeping him standing was the wall, and Tatsuki's body against his own. Otherwise, his weakened and trembling knees were threatening to drop him onto the floor at a moment's notice. Soon enough, some of the palace staff arrived. Was this a voice he'd heard before now? No, surely not; he'd hardly even been conscious within this place. Maybe it was a simple matter of Akashi demanding servitude of literally anyone crossing his path.

Kou couldn't be sure why Tatsuki responded with a 'no' to the matter of meeting a seamstress. His own clothes were gone; he couldn't simply replace them the way Tatsuki surely could. Well, it was possible, but his would be only a temporary case. No matter. The white-haired lad would rise nonetheless, nodding to the maid while cupping his hands over his crotch. His path would lead him to the baths, which he happened to know the location of without even realizing why he did.

[Apollymi]

Strangely, Tatsuki also remembered where the baths were, but unlike Kou she didn't seem to have a single shred of modesty in her being. She trailed along with the lad, getting used to the feeling of her feet touching the floor. All the while her tail remained wrapped around the lad's torso like a tether and she seemed completely unaffected by everything happening. At the same time, her eyes never left the lad, who also moved as if he knew exactly where he was going. 'Why does it feel like I remember?' she wondered to herself. As they stepped into the bathroom she would look around at the room and be hit instantly with a bout of deja vu the likes of which she wasn't prepared for. Her eyes seemed to glow a lit red for several seconds but then she'd blink as she gained some understanding of this moment. Several showers were running and for the first time, she'd let go of the lad to allow him to bathe. She stood under the water and seemed content to just watch regardless of the amount of bodily fluids that covered her body. Strangely nothing made contact with her skin, and the water all seemed to bounce off her without making any real headway against her or the grime which covered her. But such was the difference between natural water and her own ability, even when she wasn't exerting it. It didn't matter presently. She was deep in thought, but what she was thinking about would be kept to herself.

[Bloodedge]

Kou never thought to question his knowledge of the bathroom's location. No, he was far too busy entertaining other thoughts, mostly about what had just transpired between Tatsuki and himself. To be more specific, his thoughts traveled to his connection to Miki, or rather the girl behind both Avatars in question. There were few doubts in his mind that she had been the cause of Tatsuki's hesitation earlier. Whatever the case, Kou placed himself under the cascading waters of the nearest shower, where he stood and rinsed himself. In the midst of this, he raised his right hand to look at it. Two of his fingers were pruned, and with a very distinct smell. He'd seen many sources of media which depicted this as a point of interest, so he sniffed those fingers to inhale Tatsuki's aroma. Following this, he lapped at his middle finger with his tongue. It wasn't exactly what he may have expected, and yet... he couldn't complain either.

Onto the process of actually showering, then...

[Apollymi]

Tatsuki stood watching apparently staring off into space, or rather, directly at Kou. She watched his actions from the corner of her eye and had only a brow to raise in response. What a strange lad he had to be to do something so forward. Strangely she found herself wondering something similar after watching him and gently swiped her forefinger across her thigh a moment later soon her own magic seemed to be pulsing eroding every bit of muck and grime from her person with the exception of this one finger. She didn't have to strain to smell anything, whatever she took from it, she gently flicked the two sides of her tongue across it. There was no outward change to her expression but she understood a bit of the lad's curiosity. Her whole body would be clean in a matter of moments but with her magical armor at full strength water other than her own seemed to be repelled from her person. She stepped out of the line of the shower as she finished this process, no soap required and headed over to the tub as she shrank her magical armor back in. Soon after, she'd submerge herself in the water which was warm. And strangely the water began to bubble around her, and out from her person. Her tail flickered around her body as she watched the effect she had on a once still pool of water. 'Sou ka...' she mused to herself. And here, she'd sit with her head leaned back staring off into space once more.

[Bloodedge]

Kou never looked in Tatsuki's direction as he stood under the shower, wetting himself, lathering himself, rinsing himself, etc. His body was at ease, though his mind was not. It didn't matter, though. He'd progress regardless, with only his curiosities filling his mind. There were so many questions, so few answers, and none that could be asked while having an inkling of an idea as to what the answers could be. Either way, he was soon done with the shower, and moving on to the tub. He wasn't expecting a Jacuzzi effect, but a glance in Tatsuki's direction allowed him to theorize that she was somehow involved with it. "Are you... moving it?" he asked, looking out to the bubbling water as he stepped in to submerge himself.

[Apollymi]

The lad finished his bath, and whatever was on Tatsuki's mind would eventually be left alone as he joined her within the tub. It seemed he maintained some curiosity about what was going on within the tub, and he hadn't looked at her at all during her shower. She could be quite sure of that last bit because he wouldn't have asked such a thing with enough information to formulate his own conclusions. "No." she said in a manner that she knew to be too short. "Water that isn't part of me, is repelled by my presence." These words left her mouth and she shifted her body towards his as he began submerging himself in the water. "It cannot touch me, so it moves around me..." she explained of the bubbling currently present within the once still water. "Even when I am not trying to make it so," she explained, about her lack of intention to cause such an interaction. To prove this further she reached for the lad and touched his bare chest. Doing so wouldn't evoke any extra pressure magical or otherwise because she allowed his skin to touch hers. That being said water droplets on his skin that would have made contact with her, seemed to move away from the spot she placed her hand. After this little demonstration she aimed to settle again, this time somewhere near the white haired lad.

[Bloodedge]

Tatsuki drew closer, offering to Kou an explanation of what occurred with the water around her. He looked to the Dragonoid, then to the bath itself. It was odd, as far as he was concerned. Even her example using the water droplets on his torso... just didn't seem to function to its maximum potential. "Really? I would expect it to be absorbed into yours," he theorized. What sort of quality did this Dragonoid's water have to reject other sources? As he leaned against the inner wall of the bath, he reflected on this. It seemed now that he was relaxed, he was back to having thoughts about game mechanics, or rather mechanics of reality in this case. "Are you able to reverse that? Miki has that absorption ability, so she doesn't have to expend a lot of Mana. Can you... consume water and become stronger for it?"

[Apollymi]

Tatsuki and Kou began having a conversation concerning the flow of energy and the functionality of her barrier skill. He seemed to be thinking about the way it could work and had the idea that the lass could be absorbing water instead of repelling it to strengthen herself. Her face shifted backward in a strange way, something about the idea of absorbing lesser water for power was disgusting. "I am the Torrent Dragon, who controls the tides of the world. Ebb and Flow..." she said indignantly. She held her hand out before her and pushed against they water the were in, causing a break in the bubbles around them, and then using the same magic pulled it back towards herself but still she rejected it from absorbing into herself. Something about the title would explain the lass' stance on water, as it should be controlled in violent outbursts not simply absorbed in her. Specifically Dragons as far as they were concerned created the pinnacle of whatever element they controlled. Tatsuki wouldn't simply absorb water, she'd have to dominate it to even feel remotely like taking it into herself was a worthwhile endeavor. Or it would have to be equal to her, and that wasn't really possible in her own mind. As for the mention of the way Miki's abilities work and how the lass was made stronger by it, such a thing was admirable of her other self. "The girl with a Dragon's Greed, possessing all she can because she hasn't the power to make it yet. Such is sensible... respectable even," she commented. Actually after saying such a sentence, she realized Dragon qualities were central in people who possessed them. Though a Dragon wouldn't take into themselves something lesser, taking ownership of something or dominating it in someway was more acceptable to Tatsuki.

[Bloodedge]

It soon became clear that Tatsuki possessed the ability to take outside water sources into herself, though she outright refused to do so. This came with an acknowledgement of Miki's ability, along with the comparison of that to a Dragon's doings, yet still nothing toward Kou's suggestion. "Sure, you can be that... but what happens when you run out of energy? You're a Dragonoid, right? Your Mana reserves seem massive, but... not infinite." Kou's words were simple factoids derived from his experience with game lore in Age of Eternity. It was very possible for even a Dragonoid to play an entire Raid as the only DPS class in a Party, yet support was necessary at some point. Of course, he'd never seen this necessity arise himself, but this wasn't the game. If they entered a Raid here, there was a very real chance there would be other challenges waiting just outside. "I can understand that you don't need it, but would you use it if it became necessary?"

[Apollymi]

Kou's questions came in the form of strategizing. Information he remembered from the game he'd once played as well as very real scenarios. True enough she wasn't a True Dragon in that sense she was lesser than one, but she wasn't nearly in any danger from the actions they could or would take anytime soon. A soft chuckle escaped the lass as she shifted slightly to look the lad in the eye, her mate worried for her safety, as he should. "If you worry for my safety it is unnecessary," she said calmly. "But if it will set you at ease, no I wouldn't die for my pride... I'd dominate an external water source, if it were required for me to keep living, though whatever made such a thing necessary would need to die. It would be an insult to my existence..." she said softly, having reached with her left hand to rub the side of this lad's face rather possessively. "Or maybe even to show someone stupid enough to use water against me how low they are..." she mentioned. There were odd quirks to this Dragonoid's personality that last one of using someone's own abilities against them being one that went a bit deeper than Tatsuki herself. Whatever the case, this was the sort of care a Dragon expected from their mate and in all forms this lad had exactly this... she was right in her choice as this was an overtly obvious part of his own personality, the one who created Kou and Akashi.