supposed one tells priam about some superstition that spending time in a bath on lavaridge's hot springs cleanses away bad luck and all that, they should expect him to try it out the next day. new years was the perfect excuse to bring superstitions out after all, coupled with how shitty hoenn had been for the last year.

he comes in all prepared when priam catches a familiar face on the rare occasion that he's visiting lavaridge. "hey!" he calls loudly as soon as he spots him.

an arm swings around his shoulders as priam latches onto him. getting physical while both of them were half naked right before they enter the pool itself did not bother the young man at the slightest.

"two things," he whispers as he holds two fingers up in the air. "first, you didn't tell me you were part of it, and second, you ditched my party. what's your defense?"

priam forgets about his agenda as soon as he's distracted with his interrogation.

"i'm actually mister conrad!" he corrects, frantic. his expression quickly shifts, as dynamic as he was, as priam "you just want to call me by my first name since you're interested in me, ain't ya?"

priam fires off finger guns at bryan as he goes into the water, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he did. "first name priam, last name conrad," he tells him. "being called by my surname just sounds... refined... yeah, that's the word."

he eventually joins him by the pool and positions himself across bryan. he takes one foot in first, not used to the naturally high temperatures of the hot springs, before deciding to just plunge into the water since having his skin exposed to air made him feel cold.

it takes him a moment to get used to the temperature, but once he settles in, he releases a sigh of relief. as soon as his own battle with the hot spring was done, he quickly goes back to bryan's inquiry.

"mister walsh came in and told us that it's not his birthday." he answers, disappointed. "after that, it's just a bunch of drinking and socializing and networking. you didn't miss much, to be honest."

it would be pretty terrible of him if he told bryan that he missed all the fun, after all.

bryan's stare gives priam confusion more than anything else, his hand rubbing his cheek after he takes his grip from it. it takes a while before it clicks in his head, as it's almost always the other way around. bryan catches him off-guard when the question is asked as he was still deciphering things in his head.

"r-right now?" he clarifies, flustered.

he isn't a coward that backs down from the fight. priam steels up his resolve, not wanting to be the one that goes down first. he catches bryan's drift in this game of chicken, and priam makes sure that he's not losing.

"i'm enjoying myself right now, if that's what you're asking! are you enjoying you--"

he stops himself, noticing that most of his body was submerged in the water. he looks back at bryan and notices how he holds himself and decides to do the same.

with a huff, he rests his elbows on the edge of the pool, propping him up the same way bryan did. his torso remains above the surface, puffing his chest as if to show off results from years of manual service for rocket.

"are you enjoying yourself?" he retorts, throwing the question back to bryan.

he only gets more red when bryan mentions it, covering his face with his hand when he realizes it. he'd provide him a perfect excuse, but priam wasn't going to let the other get what he wanted out of him.

"n-n-no!" he stammers, trying to get it together. he takes his hand away from his mouth. "i'm just surprised you're really out here for me."

he struggles keeping his eyes up to meet bryan's, but curiosity gets him to stray all the way down, not having seen anyone else's besides his own. eventually, his control over himself breaks. it flashes before him before he manages to force it back up once more.

"u-um."

eventually, he stands up at full height as well, matching bryan's bravado with his own. arms on his waist, he faces him with confidence as he now manages to maintain eye contact more easily when they have both played their cards now.

"did you like it when i get red like that?" he responds back.

the only thing he was taught was how to get to this point. no one has told him what happens next.

typical teenage hormones start to get active when bryan comes closer than anyone has within priam's boundaries. noses flare as he stares down, tensing as he feels his hold on him.

his mind gets muddled with thoughts, overloading his mind's processes and making him unable to process the happenings before him properly. this was one kind of validation he didn't know he wanted.

"...want to go somewhere else?" he asks.