Zouichi generally bathed at the Inn, where things were quiet and old men named Jiraiya were not kicking up fusses trying to check out the goods. Today, however, he thought it might be a good time to pay the bathhouse a visit, if only for a change of pace. Surely no one would be there at this hour.

Once he arrived, he shed his body armor, wrapped a towel around his waist, and set himself to finding a nice open bath. He sank into the water with a sigh, leaning against a marble wall and closing his eyes. SHODAN's attack was over, but its effect on the crew here would likely remain for quite some time. And who knew what other dangers lurked in waiting, ready for someone to press the wrong button or wander into the wrong area so they could be set loose on the ship?

Satellizer had enough training, and she wasn't getting anywhere thinking about the battle. She had done what she could and she wasn't going to make any progress by just re-running the simulation over and over again. It was time to clear her head, and seeing as there was no Burger Queen on board, she'd have to settle for second choice.

The bathhouse. Of course, she'd wait till a time that there wouldn't be anyone around, or at least she thought there wasn't. Either way, she made her way into it, changing out of her clothing and draping a large towel around herself. Soon she found herself relaxing in the hot water, sinking down until only the her head was above water. The comforting warmth made her smile, it almost felt surreal, as if she was enjoying a hot spring back home... though last time she was in a hot spring, someone had sneaked up on her... "Stupid Rana...."  she mumbled as a blush rose on her cheeks.

Down on the city level, right by the Kohaku River and near the imposing castle, a modern-looking white building welcomed one and all to its promise of running water and warmth. Maybe even a little socializing was in order.

The ramp led up to the heated roof level, where one and all could sit down and relax in an almost sauna-like environment. Below, corridors contained plenty of towels, places to leave clothes, quick showers, and the baths, a number of them sized for any and all comers.

The private areas were accessed through separate corridors on the outside, but the busier communal baths were just as warm and welcoming. Anyone of any size or species was welcome here, so long as they behaved themselves.

[ooc: it's mingling party post time! Just start a thread or hop in one, and note if your character's in a single sex bath, co-ed, or the sauna level upstairs. My characters will be here to meet some people too.]

Kaya had, upon beig able to live in the W.I.T.C.H. bus for the time being, happily cooked meals for the inhabitants where she could, pleased that she could finally do her part. Today, when she woke up, she hadn't seen Matt. Thinking he might be out for a Council related activity, Kaya had let this pass, exercising in Will's classroom, training her body, and then popping over to visit Billy. When she came back, she got the feeling that Matt was still gone, and she started to worry, just a little bit. She asked around for him, but no one, not even those on Council, had seen him that day. Still, she was willing to ignore this, wait because it wasn't possible. How could it be? He was a Concil member, he was the W.I.T.C.H. bus person, it wouldn't make sense.

But she knew it was true. Felt it as surely as if she'd been told, and she couldn; bear to be around anyone, bemoaning his loss. After all, these were feelings only she knew right now, that loss of something she'd had after she had weathered so many changes. She had not thought it possible to be this cruel, after all of that.

And so she wandered to the baths, stripping down and sinking into the baths. It was perfect: she coudl cry all she liked adstay underwater so no one was the wiser.

Down in the City, there was a very determined yellow snake climbing the outside of the bathhouse.

Princess Jeka knew that there was a warm place on top of the bathhouse. She vaguely remembered helping design it, or at least making suggestions about how it could be designed. She could technically go inside the bathhouse and get her heat there, but that’s a wet heat and she only liked wet heat when she was shedding.

As she stopped to catch her breath, wrapped around one of the supports, she wondered how she used to get up here so easily. Something about…flying or something. Well, she sprocking (hee hee! How daring!) well wished she could remember how to fly if she’d learned it!

Cagalli in the bathhouse isn't an odd sight at all. It's pretty much her favorite place to relax alone, even if the 'alone' part ends up not working out for all that long, depending on the day.

If you don't really look closely, there's nothing out of the usual here, but beyond that... she's a bit smaller, her face just a little more youthful. She also looks like she's ready to slip into the water, just that little bit, and take a nice deep breath. Not that she's considering it, but she really wears her emotions out in the open.

"Father..."

With the great help she had received from a good deal of interested crew members, the construction and upgrade to the bathhouse had proceeded rapidly and smoothly. The second more open floor looked as much a part of the bathhouse as any other, with enough room and supports to easily allow crew members as large if not larger than herself to access and utilize the second floor just as easily as any other. The second floor itself could be accessed from both within the bathhouse itself or from a set of stairs along the side of the building, a path now leading easily around from the front to show the way to this side entrance.

With the announcment of the completion and reopening of the Bathhouse sent around the comms. Celena padded through the hallways, touring all of the various baths, private, segregated or otherwise to ensure that all were in top working order for any who may wish to use them. Once she was sure that everything was in top condition and the water flowing properly in all cases she set out the open sign.

((ooc: Feel free to mingle around, relax, and have a party if your so inclined. 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. The second level spans the majority of the bathhouse with both individual rooms and areas with the heating pads as well as open areas one can relax and look out over the surrounds))

The next morning, Katara woke up with a slight headache. It could have been worse, she knew it, but she knew what would help: a morning bath. She got up slowly, petting a sleeping Zhin before walking over toward the baths, a towel in hand. She made a bee line toward the co-ed baths, taking a quick dive deep in the water, and cleaning thoroughly. It was early enough that she thought she wouldn't bother anyone, and after a wash she went straight to the hot springs, towel wrapped around her chest and down to her knees.

She settled down, breathing deeply, closing her eyes a moment. After everything, it was good to just sit, relax, take everything in. There was still so much uncertainty, and there was definitely some pain, but she needed to stay focused, needed to be what was needed, especially now. How was Billy doing, was Matt recovering from his foray with darkness? There was still so much going on, and she needed to keep focused on training and the next step with the Outsiders.

She sat quietly, breathing in, breathing out. She couldn't be overwhelmed or things would be worse. There were reasons, after all, she still kept her head high: there was still so many things to do.

Wandering the ship had quickly become boring - surprising, considering how large it was compared to the Ptolemaios or his limited, secretive movements on Earth. He'd never really known what to do with his free time as a Gundam Meister. Visiting the graves only took so long, and he couldn't stand to be there longer. The Sensoriums had quickly become disgusting. As much as they helped, he couldn't help but be constantly conscious that they were mere illusions, replicas of things that he had known and seen and, to some extent, cared for.

Even a small task would help. Which is exactly how he latched onto Setsuna.

Surprisingly, when he came out of the changing area bearing scissors and towels, the tools of his accidental trade, Setsuna was already there, waiting patiently, washing his hair. Grinning, Lockon sat down next to him and waited, splashing water idly over his bare skin.

He was just waiting for Setsuna to either say something or finish so they could get on with the haircut.

Reimi sunk into the water of the Co-Ed side, making sure that her towel was fastened securely before she let herself relax. It had been a long day and the Calnus was up and running. And yet she heard there was some kind of Darksoul slipping around but so far, she hadn't run into anyone who was acting out of the ordinary.

Sinking to the water, she poked a bubble that was forming from the jets and let herself relax a little more, the day's aches from working on the Calnus finally ebbing away.

At least it was nice and quiet there right now.

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.))