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Who: Nageki and You
Where: Hotsprings inn entrance
When: May 1 - May 3
Rating: PG (Hatoful virus discussion; probably should have done this earlier)
Summary: There is a large mourning dove staring at passerby.
The Story:

At some point, it seemed that the mansion had turned into a hotsprings inn. His friends certainly would have enjoyed time here. No doubt Nageki would as well, if only he knew what he was supposed to do. If he had ever seen such a place before, he certainly didn't remember it and he didn't know who he could ask. In the end, he chose to settle in a corner for a little bit and watch others as they went about their business. Just until he thought of what he wanted to do.

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"A ryokan?" Kaneki glances around the lobby area. "I've never been to one myself, but they're fairly well known and common where I'm from."

"They're common where I come from as well. I just don't have any experience with them." In the five years Nageki remembers, he'd only ever seen one room. His knowledge comes almost entirely from the books he'd been surrounded with.

"Then it's a first for both of us." Kaneki smiles. "Are hot springs the kind of thing that you'd be interested in?"

He really can't guess how appealing soaking in a hot bath would be for a bird.

"I'm not sure," Nageki said. "I'd like to try it and see, though." The thought of sitting in the water didn't sound that appealing, but he'd never know what it was truly like until he experienced it himself. He was supposed to be creating new memories, enough to make up for a lifetime, and this was as good a place to start as any.

"Would you like to try then? I haven't gone yet."

Kaneki hadn't really intended to go, but it might seem strange to avoid it too obviously. Besides, if Nageki wants to, Kaneki is happy to keep him company.

Nageki nods gratefully. He hadn't really wanted to try the hot springs alone. He flew in the direction of the hot springs, making sure Kaneki could keep up with him as he did so.

Kaneki follows a little behind Nageki to give him plenty of room to maneuver. Though he's sure it was the right time for males to be in the hot springs now, he still double-checks the time at the door before stepping inside.

He pauses and glances around the bathing area that acts as a foyer to the bath itself, noting the baskets for people to leave their clothes and items in.

"You can go ahead of me, if you want. I'll be there in a minute."

"Alright," Nageki agrees. It would probably be a little odd if he did wait, so he does as Kaneki suggests. Since he has no clothes or items on him, there is little point in staying near the baskets.

While he's waiting, he decides to stick a wing inside the water. It feels pleasant and he coos softly in surprise.

Kaneki joins Nageki a couple moments later, padding across the tile floor to the edge of the bath. He's got a towel around his waist, which makes the scar on his stomach visible. It's 6 or 8 inches long across the lower right side of his abdomen and a bit jagged looking. Though he has misgivings about it, he hasn't removed his eye patch.

Other than those two things, though, he is a normal dude in a towel, who stands at the edge of the water with Nageki for a minute.

"Is it very hot?"

Nageki doesn't think twice about the scar. Coming from a world where humans live as hunter-gathers, it doesn't seem odd that a human would have a scar or two. The only human Nageki knew once fought a herd of water buffalo on the way to school. Or attempted to anyway.

And since Nageki knows almost nothing about human customs, the eye patch doesn't seem any weirder than the towel. He was wearing it earlier, so why wouldn't Kaneki wear the eye patch here as well?

"It's a pleasantly warm," Nageki told him, entering the bath. Mourning doves had a higher average body temperature than humans, though. Whether Kaneki agreed with Nageki's assessment remained to be seen.

Kaneki's only ever heard of hot springs being hot or really hot, so he's not surprised when he steps into the water to find that "pleasantly warm" is a relative description.

"You're right--it's not bad." Which it to say, he doesn't feel like he's being cooked.

He takes a minute to adjust to the temperature before moving a little over to one side and finding a place to sit on a rock in the water. He watches Nageki with interest.

"You said you'd never been to a place like this. Where do you normally live?"

"Littledove Hachiman City in Japan." His nationality might have been obvious from his name, but Nageki wants to be sure he is answering Kaneki's question. Although, just telling Kaneki where he comes from wouldn't tell him why Nageki had never visited a ryokan or anything like it before. "You're Japanese as well, right?"

"Right." Kaneki's never heard of such a city, but clearly their Japans are different--the fact that Nageki is a dove being just the first clue on that. "I'm from Nerima ward in Tokyo."

Nageki imagines that the Nerima ward isn't very different from Littledove Hachiman. Only in Kaneki's case, it's filled with humans rather than birds. It's an interesting picture, since he imagines Hiyoko when he thinks of humans.

"I'd like to see it someday," he muses. If Wonderland can change into a hot spring, why not Nerima ward?

"Hm...I hope if you ever do, it's a little different from the version in my world." Kaneki imagines that in other worlds, Nerima is pretty much the same as in his own, just without the ghouls lurking where you least expect them. "Not that it's that bad where I'm from--it's just a little complicated. I think some alternate version might be more pleasant."

Nageki can understand a little. His own peculiar circumstances aside, his Earth still has it's fair share of complications. "I think I'd be happy with whatever version I saw."

Hiyoko would love to see Nerima; it would be wonderful to explore with her again.

Kaneki smiles at that. He's not sure it's true, though a mourning dove wouldn't be in any danger from a ghoul, being inedible and all. Regardless, he appreciates the sentiment.

"I'd like to see where you're from, too. Do you have many humans there?"

"No. Most of them died long ago," Nageki replies. "You'd most likely die as well, if you went there." That's as much as warning as it is a statement of fact. He really doesn't want to see humans needlessly die. It's fortunate that Kaneki can't visit Nageki's world so long as nobirdie knows how to leave Wonderland.

"W-why?" Kaneki's surprised by that information. It's a good excuse not to point out that he isn't quite human.

"A lot of birds carry a strain of avian influenza that's lethal to humans," Nageki explained. And, as far as he knew, nobirdie had ever come up with a way to cure it. The birds doing research probably didn't care about that very much. "Although a small section of the human population is immune."

"Oh..." Kaneki's just old enough to remember concerns about avian flu being in the news when he was younger, though he'd never had to worry all that much about it. "Was there ever a time when humans lived along with birds?"

He wants to ask where sentient birds even came from, but that seems...not quite rude as much as insensitive.

"For a short period of time, perhaps." Before the war and the virus ravaged the human population. Birds must have picked up human culture from somewhere.

"There might be one in the future. A human is attending St. Pigeonation's Institute and she's been fine."

Kaneki might remember that Nageki had attempted to write to a human over the network when he first arrived.

Kaneki does remember that, though he can't remember the name Nageki had mentioned.

"Was that the person you tried contacting when you got here?"

"Yes. Miss Tosaka is a friend of mine."

He'd been trying not to think about Hiyoko or how she was doing, but now that she's the object of the conversation it's hard not to. Hopefully, she and the rest of the school made it back to Earth.

Kaneki is quiet for a moment, considering that, and the sound of the water is the only noise.

"It seems like it would be lonely for her. But with friends there, it's probably not so bad."

He doesn't mean to trivialize Nageki's friendship with her, or the friendship of birds, as opposed to humans, in general. He speaks more from his own experience having to live with both humans and ghouls when he's not properly either one.

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