tampered | Log; Incomplete

Log; Incomplete

When; Sunday, October 26th
Rating; PG-13 (will change if it becomes worse...)
Characters; Marron Glace

mottoaiokomete
Summary; A trip to the hot springs staring one serious sorcerer hunter and one flamboyant...Marron hasn't decided what.
Log; Why he agreed to this was beyond him.

Marron wasn't sure what to make of Papillion. Everything the man did never added up to the next. Including this sudden invitation to the hot springs. True, it had been given at least a week ago but even then it had surprised him. Of course, nothing that Papillion did actually made any sense to him.

Still, he could have refused. It wouldn't have been difficult to do so.

Instead, he found himself standing outside the entrance to the hot springs waiting for Papillion to join him. He was early and could have gone in ahead. But, was polite by nature causing him to stand outside watching for the flamboyant man.

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"Because I am immortal, Glace, as I have told you," Papillon drawled, finally finding himself a locker and paying rent at the counter. Setting the food and the saké aside a moment, he turned away from Glace and faced his locker, carelessly stripping his thong and tossing it inside.

"People in the medical field always said I would die." He laughed, shaking his head. "How I have proven them wrong."

Fetching a towel from a rack and a floating washbasin for the food, he placed everything inside, heedless of his nudity.

"What are you standing around there for? Get undressed and ready!"

That...doesn't answer his question. Sighing, he found himself a locker as well then removed his shoes. The sash around his waist followed then the robe and finally his pants. Folding them neatly, Marron placed them in the locker then took a towel.

He didn't mind Papillon seeing his nude figure. This wasn't his first time at a hot spring.

"Alright, I'm ready."

With that, he walked over to Papillon.

"Good."

Once again leading the way, also heedless of Glace's nakedness, Papillon headed towards the springs. There was a mixed bath, as well as baths separate for men and women, and cold springs . . . ah, the place was truly a delight. He had not been able to explore and wander about as a teenager due to his illness, and now that he was homunculus, he was taking advantage of all the pleasures he could find and could enjoy without worrying about a failing immune system.

Stepping into the men's area, he once again gestured for Glace to follow. The place was moderately populated, and was large enough to accommodate many.

Finding a decent spot, Papillon sat at the edge, placing the food beside him and dipping his legs into the warm water with a sigh.

"Mmm . . . heavenly."

He glanced at Glace. "Do you like the hot springs?"

Marron went straight into the water until he was in waist deep.

"I do."

With how much he traveled at home, he rarely got the chance to visit the hot springs. Anywhere. Vacations were rare for a Sorcerer Hunter. A myth sometimes. But, they did happen on occasion. Though, he usually spent his time worrying about his brother.

His eyes linger on the water for awhile.

"I always have."

"What makes you like it?" Papillon inquired before he too followed into the water, sitting on a submerged outcrop of rock so that the water rose to his chest. The washbasin followed, floating on the water beside him, and he took some rice cakes and began to eat.

"Ah, this is good~. You should have some."

A wink.

"It's relaxing, I suppose. And a rarity."

He ignored the wink. Though, he did move closer so he could sit close enough to take some of the rice cakes for himself...his long hair trailing behind him in the water. Once he was settled, he took several small bites. Nothing bigger.

Then he gave a small smile. "This is good."

It used to be a rarity for himself as well. "Why did you rarely have a chance, then?"

Pouring himself some saké, he took a sip, enjoying the sweet liquor on his tongue.

"For me, it was because my doctors always confined me to our estate. Fools always thought that if I so much as stepped into this water, the heat would overwhelm me and I'd die, or bacteria would invade my system and kill me either way."

A soft, almost bitter laugh, before it turned to one of cold, amused triumph. "There were many things a sick person wasn't allowed to do, Glace. I pity them, and those who do not have ambition to break beyond the horrid chrysalis."

Another lingering sip of saké. It was nice and hot. Papillon followed it with another bite of rice cake.

It sounded as if Papillon had transformed himself somehow. Marron still didn't understand it but he was more curious now.

Ignoring the the alcohol, he gazed at the water instead.

"My companions and I travel too much. Sorcerer Hunters rarely have vacation time."

He took another bite of rice cake.

"That's the way it has always been."

"What is a Sorcerer Hunter?"

Papillon arched a brow, looking at Glace with curiosity. Of course, he had gleaned from their conversations that the other man had mastery of magics, and had even said that he was willing to take Papillon in a fight, which meant that he had skills to begin with. What did that entail?

"And why must you constantly travel?"

"One with the duty of putting an end to the abuses the sorcerer enact upon the people. That is the general description."

Finishing the rice cake, Marron tucked some of his hair behind his ear. His other duty was to seal away dangerous magic but that was less common knowledge.

"We must travel constantly because the sorcerers are spread all over the Spoolner Continent."

"Spoolner Continent? I've never heard of such a place," Papillon said thoughtfully, the genius in him immediately demanding to know more. He was ever curious, especially when the information benefited his purposes; however, he had a genuine love of knowledge as well, and enjoyed socializing--thus, their outing was something of a treat.

"Tell me more about your home."

A sip of his warm saké, and a bite into more rice cake.

"And what are these sorcerers? Are they human? Corrupt humans? Other things entirely?" His pitch-black eyes focused on Glace, watching him critically.

"The Spoolner Continent is difficult to describe as a whole. It has a great many lands and all are different from each other. The people are also unique to each place. Mostly it depends upon what the land provides them."

His eyes continued to linger on the water. These questions were so different from the Papillon he'd come to know here. The questions held a genuine curiosity for what he was asking. Without the typical flamboyance he'd seen so many times before.

It was rather strange really.

"Sorcerers are humans who were gifted with the use of magic from birth. They are known for a triangular shaped marking upon their forehead."

Papillon peered at his new found friend from behind his glittering butterfly mask. He took a sip of liquor.

"A mark, is it?" His eyes looked thoughtful, sharp. "A mark to tell those who are different." His hand clenched around his saké cup a moment. "Ah, no matter. I would have borne one too, but it makes me no less superhuman."

"Why are you a Sorcerer Hunter?"

"Mm. You might not have. One cannot tell really."

Marron smiles slightly. So slightly, it might not even be a smile. But, it's there all the same. "I am a Sorcerer Hunter because that is what I was raised to be. And, even if I hadn't been, I would still choose to be one. Someone has to protect the people from the abuses of the sorcerers."

He stops suddenly then continues more quietly. "My brother is also a Hunter. I need to be close to him to protect him."

"This mark that I speak of is different. This mark is the mark of homunculi." He, too, bears a smirk that is dark, cynical, almost so much so that it could possibly be something else other than a smile. "But I do not need that."

He quirks his eyebrow, lazily twirling a finger in the water. "How noble of you. Protecting the world and your brother."

The smirk is easily ignored even though he absorbs the information given. The mark of homunculi...

"Noble?" He thinks about that then finally looks over at Papillon. "Perhaps. The former is only because that is what is expected of a Sorcerer Hunter. The latter is because I owe my brother a great deal. My way of returning the favor is to protect him with my life."

"Expected?"

His finger continued to swirl around the warm water, making figures of eight.

"Ah, but sometimes you should expect the unexpected, even among that which is expected."

He laughed softly before taking another sip of rice wine.

"Is the debt tantamount to your life?"

Again, pitch-black eyes studied Glace closely.

There was no hesitation as he answered the last question.

"Yes."

Marron smiled and nodded.

"He protected me when we were small and I was too weak to save myself. He made me want to be stronger. Nii-san gave me so much back then that this is all I can do for him in return now."

"How sweet."

Papillon's smile was amused, but his eyes hardened as he looked upon Glace. "To have a brother and a family who cared for you. I knew no such thing. They called me trash."

An arrogant flip of his hair.

"Obviously, they were wrong."

"Father is...over-bearing and my mother is dead. Nii-san is mostly my family now."

The smile faded as he looked at Papillon for a moment. Trash...

"Your personality can be overwhelming but I do not feel that you are trash. A family they aren't if they would not care."

"Tsk-tsk. The pain of overbearing parents. It is, indeed, best to leave them behind."

Papillon was undisturbed as he watched Glace.

"All they cared about was that I would fulfill my duties as an heir. When I was sickly and pathetic, they cast me aside because I was too ill to be a good successor. They wanted me to die. My brother tried to kill me."

He laughed, and his laugh was cold, chilling.

"So I ate them."

Unfortunately, Marron had heard of children doing worse in the past. Far worse. This was terrible still but he didn't let it show. His face was the emotionless mask of one who was disconnected from it.

But, Papillon was starting to make more sense now. Only starting though. Rising to his feet, he went further out into the warm water and ducked under it long enough to wet his hair. When he rose again, his back was to Papillon.

"And now, you are beyond all that. Something more. Does that please you?"

Papillon watched him soak his hair before doing the same, ducking under the hot water with a contented sigh before rising once again, flipping it back.

"Of course. I became a homunculus by my own doing. I mastered alchemy, turning myself immortal."

He smiled.

"Now I am free to do as I please."

He was already on planning to research all aspects of that. Marron had a vague idea but more knowledge would not hurt.

Still, none of this explained why Papillon had invited him here.

Worse, he was starting to think that perhaps there was no reason.

"Anything you please?"

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