Valentin Takes A Bath

[Maraoone]

((Valentin Shulgin continues from Mediation))

Valentin Shulgin was currently seated in the hot springs, water up to his chin, head laid against the stone steps, gaze perpendicular to the weathered pathway that led up here.

The clothes he'd been wearing, all of them, were stashed in his duffel bag, which was situated right behind his head, in reach in case anyone tried to pilfer from it.

The constant steam rising into his airways was partly intoxicating, partly nauseating. The water was clear, meaning he was visually exposed somewhat. He had debated for a while between entering partially clothed, and letting his underwear soak and then freeze in the arctic air once he stepped out, or entering nude, but the choice between humiliation and hypothermia had been clear to him. And even just now, about ten minutes or so into his stay here, his neck and back were starting to ache from the position he was in.

Valentin was not comfortable, but he would have to make himself comfortable, and quick.

He only had the rest of the day ahead of him, after all.

[Jilly]

((Timothy Adams continued from down the mountain))

Another day passed since Timothy last spoke or saw of anyone else. Maybe it was for the best, considering. He wasn't sure what led him here, or anywhere else really, but maybe just soaking for a few minutes would do him good. He never really took baths because of how long they took and from just how kinda gross they honestly felt, but if it was heated and stuff maybe it'd feel nice to zone out for a bit anyway.

It was only when he rose from the horizon that he saw there was already someone in it. Someone who still looked alive, at least, or at least their head poking out from the water like they were a whack-a-mole did.

Timothy slowed to a stop near the barrier of the spring facing the path down.

"...Uhm...," he started, shuffling the bag on his back and not sure what to say but said something anyway as it would've probably been even more awkward to just stare at a presumably naked dude chilling five feet away. Timothy could feel his face turning a little red, though he couldn't tell if it was from the inherent embarrassment or just the pleasant heat of the water simmering his skin from a distance.

"...How's the water?"

[Skraal]

((Jacob Lang continued from Buckingham Green))

Jacob didn't really know how long he had been wandering around this mountain. It had definitely been a while, judging by how bored he was of seeing the same damn rocks over and over again, but as boring as it was, it wasn't like he had much else to do. With no phone, no computer and nobody around to talk to, the lack of stimulation was damn near driving him crazy. At the very least, there might be an interesting view once he got to the top of wherever this path seemed to be leading.

Speaking of people to talk to... Jacob came to a stop as he approached the top of the path, a few steps away from being able to poke his head up and look in on the conversation happening just a few feet away. He felt a brief flash of excitement at the sound, the knowledge that there were at least two other people nearby cutting through the loneliness that had been building since he had left Colm at the beach. Thankfully, he managed to barely catch himself, keeping him from running up immediately onto the scene. The memory of Colm's warning was still fresh in his mind, and the thought of running into Betty, or someone else who was after him, was not a pleasant one.

Still, the idea of just turning around and leaving didn't feel great either. He knew hiding was by far the safest option, but at the same time, he was just so damn bored that merely the thought of resuming his lonely wandering was excruciating. Besides, it had been a couple days since his name last appeared on the announcements - with any luck, it would have faded into the background of people's memories along with the dozens of other names that had flown out of those speakers since then. It wouldn't hurt to try his luck here, even in the worst case scenario he could always just dip out of sight before anyone could take a shot at him.

For now, however, he was just going to wait and listen for a good time to make his entrance.

[Maraoone]

Valentin adjusted himself a bit, trying to get a better look of the newcomer, keeping his chin close to the water line. Timothy, that was the name of the newcomer.

"It feels nice here, I suppose. Hot."

Water burbled in the background, filling the silence for a bit.

"You want to join?"

Valentin didn't want him to join, actually.

Timothy was one of the more Stalinist-inclined members of the school, something which simultaneously marveled and disgusted him. Stalinists! In the land of freedom! In any case, seeing someone advocate for the very same government that had persecuted his grandfather, kicked him and his parents out, it stung, in all honesty. One of the only occasions in which Valentin shied from debate was whenever Timothy and his ilk tried to make some sort of ruckus.

Broad front, though, that's what his grandfather told him. Might as well live up to it.

He didn't want him to join, but it felt like the only polite, natural thing to say. An innocuous statement from someone simply partaking in these springs. That was all it was.

Belatedly, he realized he'd left himself exposed, and slowly moved his hand to cover himself.

He would've blushed even more, but the heat left him plenty red-faced as was.

[Jilly]

No, Timothy just wanted to stand and watch a nude extremely masc Russian dude bathe. Though now that he said that, he supposed that was exactly what he was currently doing.

Timothy could feel his face burn even hotter as Valentin (he now recognized, someone that particularly wasn't too kind to him for.... reasons) tried to cover himself under the water as if it wasn't already too late. That picture was forever in his head, dawg.

Considering present company then, Timothy shook his head. "Nah, just looking... around. Bored, I guess," he lied, disappointment hidden under the surface of his words, but it was probably for the best. At least there weren't any girls here.

He rolled his shoulder and adjusted his bag, before noticing Valentin was also alone with just his bag. He did a quick scan of the area before realizing what piece of the puzzle was missing.

"Where's your buddy? Alex? Surprised he's not here chilling with you."

[Skraal]

Jacob leaned his body against the rock surface, following the words of the conversation above him. Not much was going on, or at least as far as he could tell. It was hard to really judge the tone of the encounter, given that he was only relying on audio. Like, how undressed was the Russian guy, really? Was it, like, 'I'm just dipping my feet in the pool' level, or was it more along the lines of 'you're seeing everything, whether you'd like to or not'? Based on the current level of awkwardness, it was probably closer to the latter, but...

He shook his head. He was really overthinking this, and more importantly, he was getting pretty damn bored just waiting here and listening. Might as well step up and see the show, as it were. He adjusted the straps of his bag over his shoulder and finally ascended the rest of the stairs, putting himself in full view and letting him actually see what was going on. His initial impressions were pretty close to correct, though that didn't do much to explain the situation. Who the hell goes and takes their clothes off to go swimming in the middle of a death game?

His hand rose to his mouth for a moment as he coughed loudly for effect, glancing between the two as he spoke.

"Uhh... sorry for interrupting your, er, romantic getaway. I never really took you two for a couple, but, well, I guess it's like they say - love can bloom in strange places. Probably not a good idea to be just, um, doing it right here though..."

[Maraoone]

He only needed to keep his neck below water. If submerging his entire self into the spring, into the earth itself, was an option, Valentin would've gladly taken it as well. But unfortunately, he had lungs, and thus he was condemned to remain and interact with an authoritarian apologist and a compulsive liar, out of everyone in this school.

A compulsive liar and a murderer, if Valentin recalled correctly.

Hm.

He endeavored to answer Timothy first, since he, at least, was trying to engage in good faith.

"Alex and I decided to split up. Er, to cover more ground. We're looking for friends, you see."

He wondered how much he should say, his mind flashing back to the conversation in the tunnels, and how awry that had gone. Maybe part of the issue, aside from Alexander's dour demeanor, had been how quick he had been to jump into the topic. The reasons for escape were self-evident for Valentin at the time, but not to the others. It was something he struggled to remember, sometimes, that not everyone came from the same perspective Valentin had, and that he had to work to bridge that gap.

That gap would only have grown wider now, now that there were four days of bloodshed and betrayal behind them.

His mind flashed to Eden, who had warned him to show some discretion, lest the terrorists put an end to their plans before execution. Was he even still alive?

There had been so many names read off the past few days. He'd lost track.




Anyways, he decided to ease into the topic gradually, like someone gradually dipping their feet into the hot waters. Maybe a change of approach would prove beneficial. Start off with some friendly small talk, perhaps.

"What have you been up to?"

And now to their less scrupulous companion. Valentin put on a smile, looked at him.

"What's the matter, Jacob? Wish to join us as well?"

If Jacob wanted to make things uncomfortable, then Valentin would make things uncomfortable.

[Jilly]

Something told Timothy Valentin was giving him an edited account of events, but he wasn't gonna push it. He definitely wouldn't push it now that Jacob appeared out of nowhere like some sort of sick voyeur.

Timothy's face grew redder and redder; he was practically a tomato from the heat and the entendres piling up until he was close to bursting.

"I'm just gonna go," he said, doing a 180° turn on his heels and zooming for the exist, brushing past Jacob near the steps and carelessly knocking into his shoulder like nature called and it was suddenly every man for himself.

((continued elsewhere))

[midnight_twelve]

The logic behind a detour to the hot spring was that the sort of people who would take a spa day under these circumstances needed all the help they could get.

((Chloé Delacroix continued from If You’re Feeling Sinister))

Valentin was someone Chloé usually held in quite high esteem. They had a lot of politics in common and he was generally reasonable and sensible, contrary to what his baffling decision to strip down and bathe out here implied. The other boy was called Jacob. There were two Jacobs in their grade, one of whom had been a murderer since the very first day. Unfortunately Chloé couldn’t remember their respective surnames and that was the only thing the announcement had given to differentiate them. This was the Jacob who lied a lot, anyway. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, since Valentin didn’t seem threatened by him.

She approached cautiously nonetheless, coughing politely to give Valentin time to cover himself if he wasn’t already. She kept her eyes on Jacob, both to protect Valentin’s modesty, and in case Jacob proved himself a threat after all.

“Hey, guys. What’re you up to?”

[Skraal]

Jacob felt a wide grin spreading across his face as the red-faced Timothy ran off, barely even noticing the sting of his chapped lips cracking under the strain. It really was a beautiful thing to watch, how just a few words could set someone off so completely. It was a shame that he had left so soon, but Jacob couldn't really complain; Timothy had already provided him with the most entertainment value he'd had all day. Definitely one of the funniest encounters on the island so far, though to be fair there wasn't much to compete for the spot.

Emboldened, he sauntered up to the water where Valentin was currently luxuriating, crouching by the side. Even in this position the difference in elevation gave him the impression of towering over his classmate, a feeling that was, tragically, rather rare for him, given his height. It didn't mean much, but it made him feel good nevertheless. Still grinning, he glanced over to Valentin before turning his head in the direction that Timothy went, doing little to hide the amusement in his voice.

"Well, that guy was no fun. Like..."

Whatever words he had planned to follow the sentence up with were soon shoved to the side by the appearance of a newcomer - a girl this time. He waved her over, the same stupid grin from before still plastered on his face as he responded to her question, cutting in quickly to try to head off any explanations from Valentin.

"Eh, not much, just hanging out..." He gestured over to the hot spring. "...literally, in his case. No bathing suits around here, unfortunately. How about you? You enjoying your, er, island getaway?"

[Maraoone]

Belatedly, Valentin remembered a quote from George Bernard Shaw: Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.

His shame only increased as his words drove the wrong person from the hot springs. Valentin, frown fixed on his face, turned his head over to Jacob, smug grin fixed on his. More than the physical shame of the situation, he had allowed himself to sink as low as Jacob, and that felt like a sort of moral filth that the waters would struggle to rinse off.

In Timothy's stead, the class president came onto the scene, looking on somewhat judgingly at him, deservedly so perhaps. Might as well bring on the principal, and his mother and father, and his grandfather to boot, bring on all the humiliation in the world. Valentin actively wished to submerge himself and never resurface, but that would make Alexander sad, so he hung on for his sake.

Chloé inquired as to the current goings-on, and Jacob tried to provide an answer for the both of them. Valentin refused to let him have the final word, however.

And, also, if he allowed himself to get over his personal shame for a moment and actually reflect on the situation, Chloé was of a similar feather to Valentin. There was a reason she was in the position that she was. If anyone on this island would be willing to link arms with him and Alexander, it might be her. So, now, in these less than ideal circumstances, was the time to make his elevator pitch.

Just had to make sure Jacob wouldn't derail things. Get to the point, without immediately tipping his hand to the terrorists this time.

"Yes, we're getting along just fine," he said, lips strained slightly upward now. Had to act somewhat diplomatic, at least.

"I'm staying here for the day," he elaborated, "but tomorrow or so, I'm planning to meet back up with Alexander in the research station. Find some people who are interested in a third way, so to speak."

He fixed his gaze on Chloé.

"How about you, what brings you about this corner of the island?"

[midnight_twelve]

Based on his reputation, Chloé hadn’t expected a genuine answer from Jacob, but his flippancy caught her off guard even before she got his “hanging out” joke. That registered halfway through her response, totally derailing her thought process.

“Island geta-huh? Oh, ah. Ahem.”

Thankfully, Valentin took over the conversation at that point. Chloé frowned at him spending the whole day at the spa, but her disapproval faded quickly as he expanded on his plan. The implication was almost too good to be true. Valentin and Alexander wouldn’t just be willing to go along with her plan for lack of an alternative, but were actively committed to a similar idea? He was smart, Alexander, and particularly good at engineering; maybe he would have some ideas about the collars that made escape so difficult. And they were all convening on the same location? After three days of failure, Chloé could barely believe it. It felt like her prayers were finally being answered.

“…I’m on my way to the research station too, actually. Marshall’s there already, and Richard, and Darryl and Iris. Maybe others by now."

Either way, it looked like they were finally raising their numbers.

"We should head there together. It sounds like we have some ideas in common.”

[Skraal]

Jacob brought a gloved hand back up to scratch the back of his head. That definitely was a lot of people - not really any friends of his, but that wasn't much of a surprise. There weren't that many people who cared for him on this trip to begin with, and with every passing day that number was constantly shrinking. The realization brought with it a faint sinking feeling, a surprising fact considering how long he had had to come to terms with it. As expected as it was, it still didn't feel good to think about the dwindling of a resource that was in short supply to begin with.

In that case, then, best to try focusing on something else. Like, for example, this 'third way' that Valentin had mentioned. To be perfectly honest, he was skeptical that any such thing would work; the terrorists had them all well and truly outgunned, and any route of escape was likely to have been blocked off long ago. These guys were crazy, that was true, but if they wouldn't have been operating for so many years if they hadn't learned their lesson from the previous mistake. That said, what was the alternative, just waiting to die? There was no room for Jacob to take the moral high ground on killing, not after what happened with Spike, but he also had no illusions about his odds of actually winning the requisite amount of combat necessary to be the last person standing on the island. Couldn't hurt to ask about it.

He tilted his head to the side inquisitively, cutting into the conversation with a grin still on his face.

"Ideas in common, huh? And what might those be? Do you already have a plan in mind, or are you just planning to gather a ton of people together in one place and hope one pops into existence?"

[Maraoone]

Valentin answered with a grin of his own.

"I have a plan in mind, yes."

He was enacting it right now, in fact.

It was a silly, stupid idea, one that had occurred to him on his way to the town. The logic was elementary, and the terrorists had surely accounted for it. But it couldn't hurt to try. At the very least, it would get him a nice, relaxing bath.

Essentially, the collar around their necks had to be electronic, right? In order for it to be remotely detonated. A collar was an electronic device. Electronic devices often malfunctioned underwater. So, if he stayed underwater for a long enough time, then maybe...

The idea was silly, it was elementary, it was stupid. But, the terrorists would not execute him for simply seeking out a long, long, relaxing bath, yes? And he had not said a word about it aloud, not even to Alexander. So, as long as he said not a word about it to anyone else, as long as everyone's impression of him was just someone having some leisure time at an inappropriate occasion, then he'd be safe and free to meet up with Alexander the next day.

Silence was the key, however, he thought as his smile faded somewhat.

If he let them in on it, if he even hinted at it, then he would simultaneously alert the terrorists to his schemes, and make Chloé and Jacob party to this conspiracy of his, and the terrorists might just have all their heads for it. The idea of dying the way he entered this world was humiliating in and of itself, but bringing down two other innocents in his recklessness was unjustifiable to him.

So, he said to the both of them, "I'll have to let you in on it tomorrow, though. I'm waiting for a friend at the moment, you see."

His eyes shifted to the left. Mendacity did not come naturally to him.

He shifted his gaze to Chloé, mostly, the most likely party to join in on all this, the main recipient of this pitch.

"Some more companions might be nice, though. Might help more than a few plans pop into place," he said, lightly smirking at Jacob.

"Does that all sound good?"

[midnight_twelve]

Chloé was all too happy to let Valentin answer first. She didn’t have an escape plan, and admitting that to Jacob would be hard. What she had was a plan to maintain order and facilitate cooperation so they would have the time and resources to come up with something together. With that said, vague though he was, Valentin claimed to have an idea already; one he was unwilling to share yet. She swallowed her frustration at that and nodded.

“Sounds good indeed. I have some ideas too, but I’ll save them as well.”

She hoped Valentin wasn’t doing the same thing she was, lying about having a plan to persuade the others to stick around. It might come back to bite her if they called her out on it later, but maybe she would think of something in the meantime. The main problem was clearly the collars, but she didn’t know enough about technology for any solutions to have popped into her head on that front yet. Still, she’d have plenty of time to ruminate on it if Valentin was so adamant about spending the day here. It made sense to stay with him, since in sounded like they’d be heading to the research station in the morning, so by the time she got back to the safehouse she’d probably have to turn around again.

“Are you going to stick around, Jacob?”