Soaking It In
Log Info
- Title: Soaking it In
- Emitter: Cryosanthia
- Characters: Cryosanthia, Sabina, Jinks, Mikilos
- Place: A03: The TarRaCe - Bathhouse
- Time: Thursday, August 12, 2021, 10:53 PM
- Summary: Cryosanthia is thinking things over at the bottom of the TarRaCe bath pools, watching Lily swim around on a kickboard. Sabina comes in to check on them, with Jinks and Mikilos arriving soon after. A wizard is always as dressed as he wants to be, never too little, never too much, but a bathing suit is not the mage's normal attire and he takes a little while to change. Jinks, is drunk, and surly, and a difficult conversationalist with both Sabina and Mikilos. He seems unhappy the mage will not drink with him, although Mikilos provides his reasons. He'd rather not drink the bathwater accidentally. Lily shares the important secrets of her latest experiences, she's eaten a dirty mouse and Ssassa is making eggs. Sabina departs and Cryo surfaces, prompting Jinks to leave also. The whitescale reluctantly shares that Eclavdran is back, pursuing Seldan, Zeke, and others are being drawn into his web. Mikilos is disappointed but not surprised, he expected the Demon Duke back, but not for a few more years. He muses whether being killed balanced keeping Mortal Dread away from him. This takes the conversation to the upcoming meet with the Wee Queen, and Cryo is briefly whimsical, wondering if her Fey Guards would pretend Lily was a dragon, which delights the Kobold. Mikilos gently reminds her of her experiences, that the Fey are not to be trifled with and she concurs. Some fantasies don't fit with fairy tales. Lily is hungry so they dry off to get some food.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--<* A03: The TarRaCe - Bathhouse *>--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
A light, warm mist welcomes those entering the grand bathing chamber. Rising from pools warmed by unseen sources of heat, the moisture makes the air somewhat muggy but still comfortable to breathe. The room it fills has been divided into three portions - the dividing walls, like the bathing pools themselves, clad in pale marble that contrasts with the dark granite that bears the weight of it all.
Attendants politely direct people to changing areas and appropriate services, and ensure that no one winds up where they should not. The central pool is open to both sexes, with a strict requirement for bathing attire to be worn. Those located to either side are mirrors of each other, each restricted to one sex and discreetly guarded to preserve patrons' privacy.
Beyond the central pool a pair of massage tables offer another form of politely-supervised relaxation, with cabinets holding an impressive array of aromatic oils for the use of trained members of staff. More prosaically, signs announce the availability of a service to clean clothes while patrons wash themselves, so that they can return to the outer world fresh from head to toe.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
-=-=-=-=-=-=- Appearing, in Order -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Cryosanthia 6'9" 291 Lb Sith-Makar Female A dashingly tall, elegant white-scaled lizard woman. Sabina 5'4" 130 Lb Human Female Tsuran woman of dark hair and green eyes. Jinks 3'4" 39 Lb Gnome Male A gnomish fellow in fancy garb and jewelry. Mikilos 6'8" 180 Lb Dawn Elf Male Tall male dawn elf, rosey blonde and handsome. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
The baths always have a warm, humid and heavily aromatic atmosphere. The open space seems more expansive with the water bouncing the sound. Even with the partitions, there is always the splash of water even when people aren't swimming.
There are several, in both the same-sex only partitions and the middle mixed pool.
Cryosanthia is lying on the bottom in a shallow section of the middle pool. No she's not drowning, she's explained that to the life guards. She can breathe water, and while it isn't the muddy expanses in Am'shere or the Tornmawr, she can manage mostly clear water that is only partly people soup.
Circling above her with a kickboard, it Little Fang, or Lily, in one of Irshya's borrowed suits.
Sabina enters the bathing area ..looking frankly tired. Somehow the priestess still has a smile on her face and still wears her half mask. But there is a worn look to the curve of her lips and a touch frazzle to her hair.
She takes in the familiar sight of Cryo and Lily in the pool and the smile widens a bit. Without a word her dress changes shape and form becoming a one piece suit with a flowing train that trails behind her in peacock hues. Her slippers are slipped off and she then steps into the pool with a groaning sigh. Sinking into the warmth gratefully.
Mikilos wanders into the bathhouse, pausing near the door a moment to tame in the humidity and see who's about. A hand is raised in greeting to Lily, and a brief glance around. Cryo can't be too far, but not immediately apparent. waving vaguely to the attendant, the tall elf heads for the changing area.
"Peassce Beansss!" Lily calls out immediately upon seeing Sabina, and starts splashing her way. As the kickboard is for regular sized children, a Kobold youngling could easily stand on it. This she does not do, but her tail and legs kick up a rooster tail of water.
Another greeting is thrown Mikilos' ways, "Peassce Miksosss!"
Cryo is stripped down, reluctantly in a bathing suit that she's made with her sleeves, but without all her other magic accoutrements. When she strips down, she wants to be down. She still has her scales on, isn't that enough. In any case, she's breathing slowly. Water is heavy, and watching the underside of the kickboard move, listening to the distorted noise.
Lurking, underwater, in a casual lurk sort of way.
Jinks pads quietly from the changing room looking entirely un-Jinkslike without a small fortune in jewels, gems, and baubles decorating his person. His hair is loose and falls around his face, requiring constantly wrangling, head-tossing, and combing with nimble little naked fingers. His chest is wrapped in fresh linen bandages yellowed by a poultice of some kind over his left breast and the last few ribs describe their outline on his flanks beneath. His trunks are silken, crimson, and small; decent enough for the venue but immodest on the bard.
The gnome chews slowly on something that's given his lips a bluish-black tint and his dark eyes have an unfocused look about him as he pads quietly to the edge of the pool. He finds small steps to descend before he sits and recline with the water rising halfway over the subtle roundness of his tummy. His eyes flutter as the warmth of the pool travels up his skin.
Mikilos returns swiftly enough, stripped of his robe, boots, and pouches, but still wearing his circlet, and amulet. And a grey swimsuit somewhere between boxers and tights, perfectly decent but unlikely to bunch up anywhere. For a scrawny wizard, the elf is surprisingly fit. For a non-wizard elf, pretty average. Padding to the pools edge, he finally spies Cryo, and steps down into the water, grinning at Lily's antics.
"Peace, Lily. And to you too Cryo." Bina says to no one at the pool but knows that Cryo must be in the water. She'd never leave Lily unattended. Mikilos? She turns in time to catch a glimpse of him before he goes to get changed and then his return. Then the arrival of Jinks. "Greetings." She says to the gnome. "Are you well enough for the baths?"
Lily pilots her floatation device, turning towards Mikilos, kicking and tail slapping her way along. She's not born to the water, but there are obviously some instincts and a tail certainly helps. As she closes in on him, she calls out, "I sswimss ten lapss and win the diving and I can sswim fasster are you going to do lapss?"
Underwater, Cryo sees Lily drawing away and strokes after her. A kick, a flick, and she's flying along underwater. Her partial wings work a lot more effectively, undulating slowly. She makes a murmuring noise, hearing Sabina's voice.
Things get a little dream-like when she's water breathing. Her thoughts are slower, her instincts closer. She's had a lot to think about lately, and this version of doing so helps.
"Mm, perfect." Jinks answers with the measured slowness of the inebriated. He forces his heavy lids open to look up at Sabina, smiling sweetly. "Ah, proprietrist. Tress. Hello," he rests a hand's worth of fingertips over his sternum. "Old wound. Aches with the rain. 'll keep the bandages dry and out of your waters. The balm is expensive... 'n not to be washed away." He lowers his hand and pushes his fingers through the water. "No plagues fester on... mm, in my temple. People's oath."
Bina nods to Mikilos and then looks back to Jinks. "I was more worried for your safety in the baths. Falling asleep or fainting in water is not good for a long life." She offers him a tired smile. "I could offer you Tarien's blessing of healing if you would like. But by all means, relax. That's part of what the baths are here for."
Mikilos nods to Lily, impressed. "Win the diving AND ten laps? You've been busy. I may do some laps later, but for now plan to just soak." A slow breath, and he slips below the water, waiting a few moments to be sure Cryo is looking his direction before pressing his palms together in greeting. Trying to say 'Peace Unto Your Nest' underwater might end poorly, so for once the wizard keeps his mouth shut.
The whitescale notices the mage, he is after all with her daughter and her eyes are on her. She smiles happily, making a short upwards bob of her head and duplicating the hands-together greeting. She's not shark-like nor crocodile-like, although her teeth do bring those to mind when she shows them off underwater. In form, she is lean and wirey, more like a much larger, and much more beautiful version of a gecko or an anole. With wings, and those teeth.
"Uh-huuuh." Lily confirms. She has won all the things, "Ssoakingsss is boringsss. Ssassa iss ssoaking." She points, in case her underwater shadow was missed. Since she isn't going anywhere, she sits on her float, legs sticking out one way, tail the other, riding it as it rocks back and forth. She watches Mikilos expectantly, though what she expects isn't clear.
"I am... unsinkable." Jinks counters, turning back to blink at Mikilos, squinting slowly. "If I were a bird I'd be... unflappable." The gnome laughs, his lips pulling back from blue teeth and his eyes closing for a moment. "But this one... mm, 't doesn't heal. Not the one that killed you."
"Hello, tallman who won't have a drink with me," the gnome calls to Mikilos, raising his voice a bit to be heard. Smiling a fool.
Bina glances over at Lily who seems to be waiting for Mikilos to do something spectacular, chuckles and then turns back to Jinks. "Unsinkable? The unsinkable gnome. Well. We shant put that to the test, shall we." Another soft chuckle and she sinks beneath the water and stays there with eyes closed for a quarter minute before resurfacing.
Mikilos purposefully bumps Little Fang's board as he resurfaces, grinning, and blniks at Jinks. "I said no to a drink before? Maybe not just now, drinks and swimming tend to mix poorly. Too easyto get the wrong liquid in the other container."
Lily holds on as her board is bumped. She leans to compensate, balancing with her tail. She's a very stable paddler it would seem. She paddles to turn around so she's pointed at Mikilos again.
"I eatss a mousse." She says, "Ssassa did'nt ssee."
Unsure whether this will have the proper effect, she shares another piece of information, "Ssassa making eggsss."
Neither of these make it down through the water to where Cryosanthia is drifting along the bottom.
Jinks blinks and squints at the water when Sabina vanishes, frowning as the gears turn slowly. He stops chewing long enough to suck at his teeth and give a shiver. "Mm, twice," is his answer for Mikilos, "thrice, now." The gnome keeps score; no one has ever accused him of being the bigger man. But he does give a little shrug and doesn't let it spoil his mood.
"A drowning'd be bad for business," he agrees with Sabina, chin tucking as he relaxes.
Sabina says, "Sorry folks.. must check on something." She waves and heads out.
Mikilos tsks mildy. "Was it a clean mouse? Dirty mice can make you sick." Unsure what to make of the news of eggs, he lets it slide, turning focus to Jinks. "My appoligies. I don't recall such, but I've nothing against drinking. Not in a a general sort of way, at least."
Lily thinks about the mouse, who knows what her standards are. She was born in a hole in the ground. She's since been exposed to a much wider, and cleaner world. Of course, children are very good at zeroing in on the dirty sections. It's almost as if being small, curious and full of energy means you're willing to check out a place everyone adult knows has nothing interesting there. Finally, not sounding quite as proud she says, "Dirty moussse."
She leans over and looks in the water. Cryosanthia waves up at her, then comes to a decision. She coils and pushes off the bottom, surfacing with a lot of water, causing a wave that rocks Lily's float and causes her to drift.
She almost speaks, but first holds up her hand, turns and sticks her her snout underwater. She arches and her chest looks very, very thin. Pulling her head out, she immediately gasps, inhaling a deep breath with a lot of gurgling. "The switch is the worsst. Peace on your nest Mikilos, Jinks."
"Mm, hmm," Jinks agrees, rolling his shoulders back and lifting his head up. He makes a little sucking sound and delicately wipes a thumb at his lips, blinks his eyes wide. With Herculean effort he stands, bracing the front of his trunks with one hand as water spills away. "Peace," he mutters, forcing the heel of his palm roughly into an eye and bumping past someone that doesn't matter back towards the dressing rooms.
Mikilos grabs Lily's board with one hand, acting as anchor, and gives a disapproving frown at the little kobold. "We don't want you getting sick, so be careful, okay?" Shifting focus to the larger lizard, he nods in agreement. "Neither is pleasant, but I find shifting to water the worst. My mind knows the magic works, but the body still panics. Anyway, Peace Unto Your Nest."
The whitescale nods, clearly swallowing and making a few more forceful breaths. "Inhaling water is rough for me also. If I don't get enough in I can't adjust to the mix, and I'm not getting enough oxygen from either water or air. The squeeze, both ways, can be unpleasant."
She tilts her head, looking at Lily who stares innocently back at her, then Mikilos, "What's she doing that will make her sick?"
This is the most important question. After voicing it, she gently rests her hand on Mikilos' shoulder, a light touch, a large hand with long, thick fingers, verging on something more claw or talon like. She's being unusually soft with the touch. Her voice is measured, "This one has bad news to share, after your answer."
Mikilos glance sidelong to Little Fang. He's no snitch. "Nothing, and we're going to keep it that way." Innocent. Kittens. Rainbows. And a serious frown. "What news?"
"Well... tell me if she gets sick, so this one knows what to do." Cryosanthia says after thinking about it for a moment. She trusts Mikilos, he cares for Little Fang, it shouldn't be that threatening.
Her head lowers, she exhales slowly, looks up and meets his eyes. "The Demon Duke is back. He has followers creating monstrosities. Seldan and my Zeke are moving to oppose him. Merek may get his wish of facing him."
Her gaze remains fixed on the mage's, her sapphire eyes sparkling as they reflect the water, betraying nothing as well. "This one... cannot. Not with Lily. Not with the Egg and Giggles, there is too much that needs me already and only one I care about."
It seems like they're going any day now to check on the leyline cysts, but it never happens. The Death Orb and it's many requests for the pact await.
Mikilos frowns, and sighs, not entirely surprised. "Figured we hadn't seen the last of him, but thought would be another year, at least. I should keep back for now, never did figure out how he was tracking me across the planes. Though am quite willing to offer whatever assistance I can."
Cryosanthia exhales, some tension visibly leaving her. Her wings, what there is of them, spread a little wider. She blinks, holding her eyes closed, her pale blue eyelids strongly visible. Opening them again, her clear inner eyelids nictating in a blink.
"This one is pleased to hear that. This one doesn't want to lose you either. He is tracking those who have thwarted him, and Seldan and Malik seem to hold his greatest ire."
She looks over at Lily, who is bobbing on the wave-board and watching silently. She may not be able to smell her Ssassa's scents, but is familiar with her seriousness. Unsettled, perhaps, that this isn't a past thing, but a now thing, that has her concerned. Cryo returns to Mikilos, "This one, would like to continue staying at your place, if it does not inconvenience. We should see if we can determine how the tracking is done. I never thought him truly vanished but... had hoped I was beyond his thoughts."
Mikilos sighs, and considers. "I did keep Mortal Dread from him... but he also killed me. Not sure if he counts that as balanced or not. I don't think he'd come after me again, but unwise to give him motivation without a solid reason."
Cryosanthia nods, "Perhaps that does. If he wants it he can speak with the Queen of Air and Darkness." She smiles suddenly, "Oh, do not forget, this one wishes to help with the Wee Queen. Perhaps..."
She glances at Lily again, "Perhaps her guard might safely play with her, allow her to pretend to be a dragon. Perhaps... this is unwise, isn't it?"
Lily clearly thinks it would be -AWESOME-!
Mikilos frowns thoughtfully, considering for a long moment. "I'm not sure. The Wee Warriors might be fine to play, or they might be deeply insulted for suggesting it. I really don't understand their values. The Queen is usually more open, but will almost certainly try to wrangle something out of the mix for herself. I'd suggest just asking this time, in case it does end up being some sort of insult or deadly challenge."
Cryosanthia nods, "You're right, it's not a safe wish, not after Zap, and this one does not need more entanglements."
Her tail splashes behind her, she slowly twists her hips from side to side, helping it stir water. "This one may need that Obsidian Steed after all. I worry about Zeke."
She gazes across the pool, "He has returned much more the self I knew, and more, but he has been trailing the Demon Duke. He wants to protect me, and... I can't protect him, not without endangering... everything."
"This one fears she'll lose him again."
>>SPLASH<<
"Hungry!" Lily slaps her tail on the water. The Pinkscale staring at Mikilos more than her Ssassa.
Mikilos frowns, and nods. "Peril of the adventurer life I guess." Turning to the pinkscale, the elf deadpans a dad joke. "Hi Hungry, I'm Mikilos."
"Nooooooo. Wantsss food. Beansss! Beansss!" Lily slaps her tail against the water, a whiney tone in her little voice, pointing after wherever Sabina went. She looks at Cryosanthia, "Hungry."
The whitescale sighs, "This one doesn't think you are, but it will take some time to dry you off before we can go get a meal, so... we must go now, Mikilos. Thank you for joining us for a swim."
"Yessss!" Lily cheers, victory achieved, "Peassce Mikssos."
OOC Story
<OOC> Mikilos solves a mystery
<OOC> Mikilos says, "Kept hearing cat yowling outside, like two tom cats going at it, but by the time I get out all is quiet and no toms. Finally find a mother cat protecting three kittens, yowling at anything that gets close. Problem being one of the kittens isn't hers and the other momma cat is kind upset. Both momma trusted me enough to sort the situation, though kitten wasn't happygetting picked up"
<OOC> Jinks says, "Well I'm not gonna write you a love song."
<OOC> Cryosanthia says, "oh wow, that's pretty neat"
<OOC> Cryosanthia says, "poor kitten and good interference!"