She'd sent Angel the location of the springs now that she'd found them, a couple of days ago in fact. All she'd had to do was wait for her friend, though she'd also had to take the time to arrive at the springs. It turned out some research group had turned them into an attraction in order to help fund whatever research they were doing nearby. She'd found herself not minding much, this would be a fun new experience that she hadn't ever had in real life. It would be a great experience, that was for sure, though she wasn't going to go into it without her best online friend. She smiled, tapping out the last of a message that was asking whether Angel was close yet, only somewhat apprehensive of the actual act of getting into a spring with the girl. There wasn't much in the way of bathing suits in the game, which meant that they'd have to go in the birthday suits, but she'd had a few days to cope with that idea and come to terms with the idea that it wasn't technically her body, in a way. In that sort of way, she was able to feel just a little more comfortable with the idea. Only somewhat. She tapped her foot against the ground, looking upwards at the sun. Gosh, she really hoped that Angel hadn't gotten lost or it'd be a nightmare trying to find the other girl again. It was difficult enough arranging meetings like this, with travel taking so long sometimes. She was glad she'd heard a rumor about this place though. "Come on... please don't be lost..." she muttered to herself, behind her hand.
Angel had to pull a twig out of her hair as she emerged from the off-road journey she'd just taken. "Ow. Ow." The journey wasn't supposed to be especially harrowing, but she'd decided that if it would be shorter to go through the wilderness instead of taking the road, then through the wilds she should go. She was rather glad she had healing magic, and quickly healed the little scrapes and such she'd been given by the trees and bushes. A few people looked at her funny, but she just waved cheerfully before pulling up the message that had been sent to her. Finally, she was getting to actually meet up with one of her friends. It was great meeting new people, but deepening bonds was important too. Right? I'm here! Angel sent back as she started to walk through and look around for the girl who, for whatever reason, liked to wear a flower on her face. At least she was easy to recognize that way. She shrugged at the thought before a new one formed. "... At least I think I'm here..." she stated aloud to no one in particular. Buuut then she saw Luna and a grin spread across her face. Luna hadn't spotted her yet. So of course she did what any girl in a VRMMO named Angel would do, and tackled her with a hug from behind. "Lunaaaa~" she greeted, having been careful not to actually knock her over. She tackled people in the real world enough to know how it worked. "It's so great to actually see you again!" she didn't immediately let go. "You look good. I mean, you haven't really changed looks like at all, but you still look good."
There really wasn't much of a warning before a sudden force slammed into her back, nearly bowling her over, though she was just strong enough to remain standing. In the real world it'd have taken her down for sure, but the body of Luna Avalbane was far stronger than her actual body. She'd found herself trying to lift things she'd never even have a chance to lift in the real world, all because she'd become far too used to her online avatar's body. Still, she turned her attention to her friend, who had apparently launched herself at Luna, with her arms wrapped around her from behind. She giggled, though an atomic blush painted itself over her face and she found her hands struggling for something to fiddle with. Gods, this was way too embarrassing. "A-Angel! I-I-It's good t-t-to see you too!" She shifted, wondering if the girl was ever going to let go of her. Didn't seem like it. "I-I'd say y-y-you look good too b-b-but I can't really see you...." She coughed, shuffling her feet beneath her slightly as she silently wished that Angel would both let her go and keep holding on, looking around and blushing at the eyes that were locked onto them. They were drawing a whole lot of attention to themselves, which really wasn't doing all that well for her confidence. She hated being the center of attention. "I-I um, I hope the journey wasn't t-too much of a detour?" She didn't know what the girl had been doing beforehand, hopefully she hadn't dropped anything too important.
Acting her usual giggly self, Angel did eventually let go, though it was long after a more self-aware person might have decided her hug was too long. She laced her fingers behind her back and hopped back, all smiles. "Oh, the whole trip was a detour~" she giggled again. "I went off-roading. LIterally. It was very uh, scratchy. Good thing I have healymancy." She stuck out her tongue playfully. She knew that wasn't the name of her skill at this point but it sounded more fun than Illumancy to her. "No worries though. We did agree it would be fun to do stuff together so of course the moment you sent me the invitation I was ready to go." Angel gave an energetic thumbs up to her companion, more than happy to be here. The journey had been a little more dangerous than she was used to, but oh well. "So um, how do hot springs work?" she started glancing around everywhere at a rapid enough pace people glanced at her as well. "Where are they?" She was, of course, not looking in the one direction they were - directly behind her.
"Y-you went offroading...?" She shifted slightly when she was finally let go, turning to face her friend now that she was physically able to. The girl was strong, she definitely had that going for her. At the very least, Luna probably couldn't have broken her grip even if she had wanted to. She smiled, shaking her head at the girl, attempting to frown at her before failing. She didn't have it in her to be all frowns and seriousness. "Y-you really should b-be more careful. J-just because it's a g-game doesn't mean death i-isn't serious..." Were most gamers so cavalier about dying in this game? Sure, in most other games there wasn't much of a downside to it, but from what Harveste had said to her it sounded like death was pretty serious and scary. "I-I mean, sure I'm uh, glad that you came, b-but please be a little more careful." She shook her head, fiddling with her fingers in front of her as she shuffled awkwardly on her feet. She did giggle when Angel asked where the hot springs were, raising a hand to point behind the girl and at the entrance to the springs. "U-um, I think they're been set up a-as like a tourist attraction type thing. T-there aren't any people using it now t-though, since the journey i-is a bit long." She explained, looking around. Most of the nearby people either worked here or had recently come out of the springs. "I um, I think we just go up and, uh, ask?"
Luna was clearly concerned for Angel, which caused Angel to stand up straighter. "Y-yes Ma'am. I'll take the road next time okay?" She gave a small curtsy as well. Angel was barely capable of sarcasm so she was being sincere. She turned around after her apology and saw the hot springs area, then glanced back at Luna. "Well, we're both here, so I suppose we should go ask!" she nodded and took Luna's wrist gently before hurrying up to the person in charge. Or at least who looked like they were in charge. "Uh, can we use the hot spring thingies?" Ava asked. "We heard they were really nice and we've never got to before."
The curtsy was cute and Luna had just enough insight into Angel to know that, at the very least, it wasn't intended to be a mocking thing, so she didn't really feel upset by it. Instead, she giggled a little at how much Angel straightened herself out for it and apologized, waving a hand to dismiss any sort of need to apologize. "D-d-don't apologize for it! I-I'm probably just being a w-worrywart is all!" She did have a tendency to worry about others, after all. She let herself be grasped by the wrist and tugged along, completely okay with letting Angel do most of, if not all of the talking. It was completely fine for her to just stay in the background as the, she assumed, NPC in charge wrote some things down and let them through, directing them to the left springs. She didn't pick up much of the conversation, busy mentally preparing herself for the next step. They arrived behind a section of rock wall, out of sight from people that weren't also going to the springs, with stone cut into what looked like lockers, only without a door. There was no roof either. It was just a sort of pseudo changing room. She gulped. "I, um, I t-t-t-think we get u-u-un..." She gulped, breathing deeply. "U-undressed...?"
"Huh?" Angel opened a locker, having expected there to be some sort of in-game swimwear to "equip" or something. She raised an eyebrow. "There's nothing in the lockers for us?" She opened her inventory to make sure she didn't miss anything. "That's weird. Are we supposed to just get in with our clothes on? Wouldn't we just be in wet clothes?" Then Luna dropped that little bomb. "Undressed..?" she tugged at her shirt. "You mean like, they just expect you to use your underwear as swimwear in this place?" she was clearly not catching on, at least until she noticed how awkward Luna was being."Uh... is there something I haven't figured out yet?" she asked as she took the ties out of her hair so that her long black hair was all down and wavy instead of in her normal twin tails.
"N-n-no..." She really couldn't bring herself to answer any of Angel's questions, feeling far too awkward as she kept her gazed fixed squarely on the wall, her lips pursed in part frustration and part anxiety. Thank god this wasn't her real body! She might've fainted by now if that were the case, she was already making significant progress on not being quite so awkward and shy, or so she thought. She coughed awkwardly, turning in time to watch Angel take the ties out of her hair. Did she not even know that you could remove your clothes in this game? Even she'd figured that out by now. She blushed, looking around before sighing. Nobody else would explain it to her, it seemed. "I-In these s-springs, I um, ah, I think we n-n-need to get out of our clothes...c-completely." She glanced away, cheeks glowing bright red. "Y-you can get n-n-nude in this g-game.." She shuffled, playing with the floor with her feet for a moment, before crouching down to remove her shoes. God she felt so awkward right now! Recommending this had been such a mistake! She gulped, turning to awkwardly glance at Angel. "I, uh, I understand if y-you'd rather not..."
Once Luna had started her explanation, Angel had frozen in place. "W-wait really?" She checked her own clothing without taking any of it off and promptly blushed, reminded that this wasn't the body she grew up in once more. "Oh. I uh, I bet Dad wouldn't approve if I told him..." she mumbled. "Good thing I won't!" Ava was, in general, a good girl, but it wasn't like she was getting into a hotspring with some guy right? That made it different. She coughed and glanced back at Luna. "It's fine!" she insisted a little too quickly to sound natural. It sounded more like someone who was clearly uncomfortable, which wasn't exactly Angel's style. "I can, er, we can do that, right?" Her brain turned to the PM she'd sent to Luna where she'd revealed she was attracted to women. "Girls do this sort of thing all the time in like, animes and things." Angel took a deep breath and began to strip more quickly before either of them had a chance to change their mind or protest. She'd promised she and Luna would have fun together today. And frankly she might struggle not to stare but at least she would have fun.
She blushed as she watched Angel check her own clothing, nodding at the implication. Had Angel just never bathed whilst online, then? Luna herself had jumped under a few waterfalls, or sat in a stream or two when she was convinced that she was completely alone with nobody watching. She took a deep breath. It wouldn't be weird, it'd be just like bathing with a best friend when they were kids, only both of them now looked like adults and knew the other was attracted to other girls. It wasn't weird at all! "Y-y-yeah, g-g-girls do this k-k-kind of thing all the time!" Who was she kidding? Of course girls didn't do this sort of thing often, nobody did this often. Anime and films didn't count! They weren't even real! She took a deep breath in, attempting to calm her nerves, which almost succeeded until she noticed Angel actually start stripping. Oh god! It was an uphill battle not to stare, but she managed to make herself seem particularly interested in the wall as she slowly stripped her clothes off with shaking hands. It was fine. That was all she could really tell herself. Nothing weird would happen and it would just be the two of them. Nobody else ever had to know as well, they could keep everything between them. They didn't even have to acknowledge that the other was nude, though she really hoped that the water wasn't clear enough to see through. Hopefully the heat was making it bubble up enough to obscure the vision of somebody so that they couldn't see anything beneath the water's surface. When she was finally undressed, she paused for a moment, before opening her palm menu and sending her flower eye to her inventory, revealing the second amethyst orb for the first time. She felt strangely exposed with both eyes visible, though it might have also been the nakedness talking. She coughed, covering herself with her arms as she looked towards the actual springs. "Um....y-y-y-y-y-y-you first...?"
Luna was too busy staring at the all to notice, but Angel had accidentally caught sight of her while she undressed. Her cheeks flushed pink and quickly looked away when she realized what she was doing, though her own digital self was just a little distracting considering her brain knew Ava wasn't Ava right now. Unlike Luna, she didn't really attempt to cover herself. She was a more modest girl than some might think at the moment, but she was well aware that she wasn't hiding anything too new from Luna. "You're really pretty without the flower," she gave a small thumbs up and grabbed onto some strands of her own hair that seemed even longer now that it was down. "Er, I mean you're pretty in general. Like, in your birthday suit. I hope that's not too weird," she giggled self-consciously. She shook her head and obeyed, going over to the girl's side of the hot springs with a small shiver. It was cool outside, but it wouldn't matter with the warm water, at least from what she understood. Some bubbles aside, the water in this place was crystal clear. Whelp, she wouldn't complain. Angel hopped into the water and sat down to warm up again. "It feels really great! C'mon, Luna~"
Luna shifted, trying not to keep her eyes on Angel for more than a second. Why wasn't she even trying to cover herself? Wasn't she even the slightest bit embarrassed? She could understand that it wasn't even their real bodies, which was pretty much the only reason she hadn't packed up and gone by now, but surely on some sort of level she must've been a little embarrassed about this? God, even the compliment only served to make her feel more awkward, especially when she carried the knowledge of Angel's orientation with her. She stammered slightly, trying to come up with a response as she followed Angel to the springs, feeling just a little more hopeless as she saw that the water was crystal clear. Great! Her one safety net that she'd been hoping for had been snatched away from her. She sighed, making her way into the water as quickly as possible and sitting a respectable distance away from Angel, making sure to sit in a way that covered as much of her body from view as she could, not that it meant that she couldn't see Angel. Because boy, could she see Angel. She shifted uncomfortably, her body caught between wanting to relax in the water and wanting to cover herself. "Y-you're right...i-i-i-i-it is, um, v-v-v-very relaxing..." She coughed, looking away from Angel. Thank god it was secluded from view. And that nobody else was there. And that it wasn't mixed bathing.
Angel was still blushing somewhat, but she'd kind of had to accept what was going on fairly quickly in order to enjoy herself like she'd promised. In fact, she was overcompensating in her desire to act casual at the moment, which was the main reason she wasn't attempting to stay at all modest. "You're so far away~" she quickly scooted over to sit beside Luna. Angel was not someone who understood people's need for personal space, and it was probably becoming obvious here. Before they knew it she was practically shoulder to shoulder with her new friend as she sank down making an "Ahhhh" noise. "Maybe this was a good idea. You're a genius, Luna~" She had her eyes just mildly open as she watched the bubbles form around them. The view was admittedly very nice, but she was mostly trying to think about the spring itself. "Really though, I'm glad you invited me. I always like trying new things and even though it's kinda awkward, it's so much better that it's us instead of like, strangers, you know?"
Oh gosh she was moving closer. Oh gosh oh gosh ohgoshohgosh! She felt her breathing speed up and she curled her fingers inwards, her posture completely rigid and totally uncomfortable as she did everything she could to hide the more private parts of her body from view. Why had Angel moved so close to her and why was she just refusing to even attempt to cover herself? She shifted nervously, freezing when she could have sworn she felt the brush of a shoulder. Her breathing began speeding up again. This wasn't good. She'd ruin the experience if she started hyperventilating, or passed out and drowned. She tried to take in a few deep breaths, scrambling desperately to count backwards from thirty, like her parents had once recommended to her if she ever started to feel overwhelmed. She tried to speak, but all that managed to slip past her lips was a whimper that was pretty much inaudible. She didn't want to mess this all up! This was her first online friend! She clenched her eyes shut, partially to keep herself from looking at anything untowards, but mostly because she was sitting in an incredibly uncomfortable position, both physically and mentally. She gulped, trying again to speak, though any words that came out were drowned out by the sounds of the bubbles. An attempt to clear her throat later, she tried again. "I-I-I'm g-g-glad y-y-y-y-y-y-you came..." It was only just audible now, but that was a monumental improvement as far as she was concerned.
