Garden Of The Abyss

"...You fought an "Orc God"? Frankly, I thought that was just a myth."

Akshay scratched his head, sitting on the side of the sofa present in the Gladiolus main lobby.

He sat beside Akshay, plopping onto the couch as he sighed out, handing the proof of completion to the man, "Yup. You should probably tell the receptionist about that when you turn it in."

"The Desmas domain was hit that hard…they'll probably pay a pretty sizable bonus to Gladiolus for this," Akshay told him.

"Really?" He looked at the black-and-white haired man.

As they were discussing this, the new recruits were settling into their rooms as the night hung over the valley.

Akshay nodded, "This would've been a much bigger problem if Gladiolus didn't handle it when they did. They'll recognize that."

"Nice, nice," he smiled, resting against the sofa.

Before he could properly settle into the comfort of the couch, his cheek was pinched by slender fingers, prompting his eyes to open as he saw Iris standing over him.

"What did I say about laying on the couch before bathing?" Iris sighed out.

"Right, right…" He sat up, stretching with a yawn.

As he got up, ruffling his locks as he moved towards the bath, he was stopped by Akanni emerging from his room.

"Mr. Nakamura," Akanni said.

"Just call me Ren," he smiled wryly, looking up at the tall, draconic man, "What's up?"

Akanni looked down as if saddened by something, "Are there any…larger beds?"

After being asked such a question, he peeked past the dark-skinned, demi-human man into his room, looking at the bed then looking back at the large man.

"Ah…" He let out, "I'll look into getting one more your size. You'll have to bear with it for now."

"Thank you, Ren," Akanni bowed down.

He dissuaded the notion, waving his hands, "No need to bow, man. I should've considered we'd get some larger members."

After that encounter, he watched as the draconic demi-human attempted to lay on his bed, though half of the length of his legs stuck off of the end of the black-sheeted bed.

Well, add that to the checklist, he sighed.

He ventured to his room, finding Iris brushing her hair as he retrieved his casual, nighttime clothes before setting back out of his personal quarters.

Moving towards the bath, he felt a bit of warmth exude from beyond the door, but when testing the handle, it was unlocked.

I guess somebody just used it, eh? He thought.

He opened it, entering and closing the door behind him as he set his clothes on the bathhouse, marble counter as he ruffled his own white locks a bit, feeling his exhausted body yearn for the warmth of the bath.

As he turned to face the large tub itself, he was caught off-guard as it was already filled with hot water, laden with bubbles.

What was more shocking to him was the slender figure residing within the bath; a pale body, without blemishes as lavish, jet-black strands of hair cascaded down her shoulders.

Only a sparse few bubbles obscured the naughtiest bits, but he had a clear image nonetheless.

…Calytrix? He thought.

"I see the forces of darkness work to bring us together," the youthful woman said, now looking at him with a blush-accompanied smirk.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" He averted his eyes, quickly escaping the bathhouse as he slammed the door shut behind him.

I saw nothing. I saw nothing. I saw nothing, he repeated in his mind, though the image was baked into his mind, I saw everything–!

As he stood there, free from the unexpected encounter, Akshay looked at him from the center of the main lobby with a raised eyebrow.

All he did was shake his head in response from the look of the man, who seemed to understand the situation as he gave him a wry smile in assurance.

"...We must never speak of this," he whispered to Akshay, patting the man on the shoulder who was reading over some papers, "Iris is a kind girl, but…"

He shivered at the thought of her finding out about the freak accident that had just occurred.

"Got it," Akshay nodded quietly.

After a moment, he spoke the man's name in a serious tone, "Akshay."

"Yeah?" Akshay replied.

"We have to rank up fast," he said, looking off into the distance, "We need more bathing rooms."

"Understood…" Akshay chuckled wryly.

He waited patiently, and from afar, until Calytrix left the bath in her usual clothes–though he noticed that he didn't see her unmistakable, ornate dress in the bath house when he was in there briefly.

While the young-in-appearance women ventured to her room, that neighbored Akanni and Elena, he waited behind Akshay before seizing the bath for himself, slamming the door behind him as he huffed.

"Clear…" He sighed out.

After removing his armor and dirtied clothes, he looked at his bare, bruised arms with a slight wince as he raised his black-and-blue limbs.

"Damn…" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Nebulous Lightning" is still pretty difficult to get a hold of, he thought.

"I probably should've had Iris heal this too, huh?" He lightly chuckled to himself before getting into the tub.

As the hot water met against his sensitive, bruised skin, he winced slightly before quickly accepting the pain, being able to relax alongside it as he laid in the bath.

Ever since what happened within Purgatory, pain has changed for me. After so much of it, I guess my body has sort of adapted to it, he thought.

Sitting in the tub, hearing the passing conversations outside the bathroom between the new guild members, he smiled to himself.

Rather than waiting for a home to make way for me, I made my own, he thought.

Getting out of the bath after feeling exhaustion catch up to him, he dried off and switched into his leisurely, nighttime attire that he had brought in with him.

After exiting the bathroom, he continued to dry his white locks with the towel, keeping it on his shoulders as he saw Akshay getting ready to head out.

"You can wait until tomorrow to turn that in, you know," he laughed, approaching the mixed-haired man.

Akshay looked at him, "It's fine, really. I don't mind. Besides, you all work much harder than me–it's the least I can do."

"If you say so," he left a pat on the man's shoulder before beginning to make his way towards his bedroom.

He was stopped as Akshay called out to him before leaving through the guild doors, "About those personally recommended recruits–"

"Oh, right, I almost forgot about that," he scratched his snowy locks.

"I'll bring them in tomorrow," Akshay told him.

"Sounds good," he waved to him, "Night'."

Akshay simply waved back with a smile before closing the door behind him.