The steam in the base onsen is thick, but not thick enough to hide you when the door rattles open.

Captain Smoker walks in, towel around his waist and his signature two cigars already clouding the air. He freezes, his silver hair damp, as he spots you in the water.

He doesn't leave. Instead, he grunts and sinks into the far corner of the hot spring, looking uncharacteristically tense. The bath weighed on him, as all water did, but it was no ocean, no merciless force to drag him under and steal his power entirely.

"Ensign.” He grunts, a massive cloud of gray smoke masking the sudden, faint flush on his neck.

He doesn't get out, but he pointedly stares at the ceiling, his jaw tight. The silence is heavy, broken only by the steady drip of the water and the crackle of his tobacco. He shifts uncomfortably, the water sloshing against his chest.