Cascade [Open party time!]

[morphitudinous]

Billy had just launched another portal in that maze of mazes, exhaustion setting in. Surely this time he would land on another moving platform of death?

Nope, just the exterior of the finished bathhouses. All polished, systems running, and just about ready to open! Given how sore and exhausted he was, that sounded like an excellent idea at the moment.

With a quick message to the rest of the crew, he set out the 'Open' sign for the first time and took advantage of his owner status---the prime waterfall spot could be his!

((ooc: The bathhouses are now open! Feel free to mingle around, relax, and have a party. Or cause trouble, but that might invite more trouble. Just start a subthread with your character's location and have fun. For reference there are individual showers in front, followed by hot tubs centrally located, saunas further back, and private baths along the side. The showers, tubs, and saunas have smaller sex-segregated units along with a central group unit that's larger.))

Comments

[governorkang]

Kang simply shrugged and grinned at Mei-Xing, crossing his arms over his chest before turning his attention back to Billy, "You're going to lose this one. She's an elf, and a mage; you won't even get close to her."

[killsfengshui.livejournal.com]

"And I'm Chinese." She holds up a finger, grinning cheerfully. This isn't a life and death situation, Billy! Live a little!

She stretches pointedly and relaxes against the side of the pool, not even turning her head to watch him as he circles. "If I wanted to embarrass you, I would have found something that didn't involve hours of effort and listening to morons who don't know how to design things toss out ideas. It's just too much work to see you like this." Not that it wasn't worth it. Who knew that bookish guy worked out?

[morphitudinous]

Thank you for reminding Billy of his inadequacy, Kang. It's very appreciated.

"True," he concedes, relaxing against his end of the tub while working out a plan. It looks like his main options are walking out in his current state or offering a favor---maybe he could find out what that was and then decide? He hadn't the opportunity to install or utilize a third option.

Billy remains quiet for a minute or two, chin against his chest, then looks up in her direction. "So would that make my only option to leave this tub naked, or is there something else you're seeking?"

[killsfengshui.livejournal.com]

Mei-Xing pouts at Billy before spreading her arms. "I'm just looking for a good time, Billy! I offered to let you take them, I'm almost starting to think you like being naked." She pauses before squinting and leaning forward, planting her chin on her fist. "Or are you trying to get me undressed?"

[morphitudinous]

"I'm not foolish enough to believe that it would be that easy," he replies smoothly, narrowing his eyes at the suggestion that he's enjoying this.

"No, I'm definitely not interested in undressing you. Even if I was, I wouldn't be able to see a thing." Steam-proof glasses would be awesome. Not that he would ever use them for that purpose.

Billy took his spot at the waterfall again, trying to re-loosen his back muscles. Maybe if he relaxed she would get bored and leave.

[voiceofserenity.livejournal.com]

It's hard not to see how embarrassed Billy is, even from across the pool. An amused Kaylee, stripped down to her unders, walks up and leans an arm on Kang's shoulder.

"How long's she had him goin' for?"

[governorkang]

"Not for too long," Kang shrugged, grinning. "It's pretty funny to watch, though."

[killsfengshui.livejournal.com]

Mei-Xing scratches her chin, as if thinking hard. She screws up her face in concentration, before standing. She announces in a clear, concerned tone. "I realize that I'm being too hard on you, Billy. Here."

She bends over and starts to peel off his swim trunks.

....And the bottom of her swimsuit. She looks over her shoulder at Kaylee and Kang, trying and (mostly) succeeding at keeping a stern, solemn face. "It's a show of solidarity, everyone."

[morphitudinous]

Oh, everyone gets to laugh at him today! It's a right-on circus, magical and beautiful and spectacular. For everyone except Billy. He buries his face in his hands.

"You're free to wear or not wear whatever you like, as long as it doesn't involve stealing, but there's really a much easier way to solve this."

He's entirely pink by this point, trying to calm himself with increasingly elaborate fantasies of revenge. That possibly include revenge on Kaylee and Kang's amusement at his troubles.

"Would anyone else care to partake in solidarity?" he asked dryly.

[voiceofserenity.livejournal.com]

"Well, if it'll make you feel better..."

Oh yes, all teasing, this one. Kaylee steps back away from Kang and slowly starts stripping down, trying not to look too amused as she does so.

She's doing this for you, Billy, just think of it that way.

[governorkang]

Well, this was getting interesting. Kang fought down a brief flash of uncomfortableness at the female nudity and the memories it provoked, and after a moment, he shot Billy an amused smile and set aside his armor, "Might as well, even if I'm not planning on getting in the water." He settled himself on the floor near the edge, leaning back against the wall.

"...that's an interesting tattoo, Mei-Xing. Magic?"

[killsfengshui.livejournal.com]

Mei-Xing blinks, peering over her shoulder, then at her back. On it is a crimson Chinese dragon twisting in on itself. "Ah. I'd forgotten about that." It slithers around her waist, almost like a belt. "Nanotattoo. Er. It's a nanomachine colony living in my skin. I program it with the comm unit in my head."

She slips off her top and tosses the entire ensemble next to the tub. "C'mon, Billy, don't be shy!" She slips down into the water again, grinning. "Your crewmates are trying to support you and you're just hiding! That isn't too friendly."

[morphitudinous]

Billy shifts to make room for Kaylee---geez, he didn't intend that to be a serious suggestion---and lowers his arms, moving to what he feels is an acceptably friendly distance while firmly focusing on their faces. Focusing as much as a guy with vision as blurry as his can, anyway.

The nanotattoo catches his attention, of course, but he can't really see it. Instead, he sighs and looks up at Kang and Kaylee hopefully. "You'll agree that I'm friendly enough, won't you?"

[voiceofserenity.livejournal.com]

Kaylee sinks into the tub next to Billy with a smug little grin on her face, until the nanotattoo distracts her from any further embarrassment she might cause the poor Ranger. Instead, she leans just enough to get a better view of the tattoo. "Where'd you come up with 'em?"

Billy's questioning her, though, and she smiles at him and gives his shoulder a reassuring pat. "You're plenty friendly, Billy, but you need a good tease every now and again to loosen you up some. No hard feelin's, promise."

[governorkang]

Kang laughed, "You should be more careful about what you say, Billy, especially around some of the people on this ship. I never understood why the other races were so uncomfortable with nudity anyways, and I was raised by humans." Not the nicest of humans, but still. He moved the end of his tail into the water out of curiosity, and pulled it out after a few seconds. Too hot for his liking.

[killsfengshui.livejournal.com]

Mei-Xing smirks at Kaylee, tattoo bursting into a group of butterflies that flutter around and settle in the skin of her shoulders. "Get any closer and I'm going to have to call this a date. Got'em off a street doc in... Seattle, I think? Some of the other nanotech they had available would've been better, but it was out of my price range." Her smile flickers just a little. "Then I saw what Deus could do with nanomachines and decided to pass on anything heavier."

She shifts a little, then goes back to leering at Billy. "Kang, you don't worry about this stuff because you've got lizardbits. All your junk is tucked away somewhere."

[morphitudinous]

Billy notices something fluttering across Mei Xing, but he looks puzzled. This lack of steam proof glasses is really becoming a pain. He pushes some hair off his forehead, smiling tentatively at the group. A bigger one for Kaylee, despite touching while naked being just slightly uncomfortable.

"That's not quite it," Billy chips in. "It's all based on societal values from hundreds of years ago. We were taught not to show our bodies to anyone we didn't intend to marry. It was believed that the sight of the naked body would inevitably lead to sinful activity. It's clearly not inevitable, but taboos don't fade easily."

Talking seems to calm him down, downgrading the mortified flush to a calmer cadence and color.

[voiceofserenity.livejournal.com]

"You use 'em often at all?" The pink flush on Kaylee's cheeks can't really be helped, though she does laugh at Mei-Xing's reply. "Don't gotta worry 'bout me, I'll keep me to myself."

And there's Billy, sinking right back in to a somewhat-comfortable state. "A lot of 'em just keep on goin'," she agrees. "I mean, you should see Simon's face whenever somebody even mentioned anythin' to him..." It was more of a Core planet thing, though. The Rim was a lot better about being yourself and not a robot with a wallet.

[governorkang]

Kang quirked an eyebrow ridge, scales twitching slightly, "I'm not a lizard, you know."

He snorted, "That line of thinking makes absolutely no sense. Then again, there's a lot of things humans and the other races do that don't make sense to me. Not even after-" he cut himself off, muttering a curse.

"Nevermind."

[killsfengshui.livejournal.com]

"I wasn't gonna complain if you did." She switches her leer from Billy to Kaylee, giving her a more thorough examination. "But, yeah. Nanotat's most usually on. I just don't really get to show it off here, the plantsuits don't show a lot of skin."

"And that's retarded. I've seen hundreds of naked people in my time, I didn't sleep with all of them. Of course, a lot of them happened before I really had a good idea of what sex was..." She trails off, considering, then shakes her head.

At Kang's sudden cutting off, she glances at him out of the corner of her eye. "This got something to do with why your aura's all dim and twisty, Kang?"

[morphitudinous]

No longer being scrutinized like a juicy slice of steak does improve Billy's mood somewhat. If he tries hard, he can even almost forget that Mei-Xing's probably used her magic to ogle him with perfect clarity all along.

At the aura comment, Billy's attention shifts to the mage's assessment of Kang. His intense embarrassment had precluded any deep examination of his friends, but now that she mentioned it something had seemed off base.

"Aura? I knew people on my world who believed in their existence and claimed to be able to read emotion, but it was largely regarded to be a trick of the eye. It's possible?"

[voiceofserenity.livejournal.com]

And that's something Kaylee's more used to coming from men, but she doesn't seem too phased by it. Still a little pink, maybe, but it's not stopping her from continuing her inspection of the tattoo. "Even if it weren't the more expensive, still must'a cost a pretty penny. Tech like that ain't cheap anyplace you go."

Her attention is pulled by the mention of Kang's aura. Kaylee frowns at the Draconian. She knows he had a rough time of things on the last mission, and that it's bound to still be bothering him after their talk.

"S'alright to be upset, Kang, don't gotta try to hide it all the time."

[governorkang]

Kang's wings rustled, and he looked to the side, frowning, "Yes to both questions. Kaylee already knows the basics of it, and I'd rather not give all the details, but the mission was bad. We all got false memories and false lives forced on us because of a cheap bet between two gods." It was clear from his body language that he really didn't want to talk about it any further at the moment.

[killsfengshui.livejournal.com]

Mei-Xing flutters her eyelashes at Kaylee. "It was, yeah. Not gonna lie about that. Nanotats are cheaper than most of the other kinds, but I got the full body treatment." That added a healthy chunk of change.

She grins and slides around, sitting next to Billy and sliding an arm around his shoulders. "He don't want to explain it, then he isn't gonna explain it. This guy'll get huffy and walk off." She grins up at him. "However, there is booze."

[morphitudinous]

"I'll leave it alone, Kang. That was cheating," he huffed at Mei Xing, "but I'll listen if you ever want me to. I've heard from Jamie---it messed with people, no doubt about that."

As the conversation progresses to Mei-Xing's...riling up of people, or whatever it is that she does, Billy's staring stems largely from following the action. People are infinitely more complicated than laws of physics. He marvels at how easily Mei-Xing shifts modes, then shudders at the sudden skin contact. Sudden contact of skin that should definitely not be touching him. Please don't let it get any worse---it's not so bad now, but he's gotta keep it that way.

"You confirmed that you didn't engage every naked male that you saw, but how many did you...get close to? Should I consider myself lucky?" Billy's still trying to mask the embarrassment with grouchiness, yup.