by Seven Xu on May 17th, 2011, 6:38 pm
It had been a couple of weeks since their first encounter, and every day since, Seven made a conscious effort to avoid the baths at a certain time of the evening. I plan to bathe here every evening, near the 21st bell, in the public baths. That fleeting smile nearly broke his heart. It was the first, and last time he saw Rhode smile. After he had been left alone in that private bath, it took every fiber of Seven's will power not to follow the Eypharian. A few days passed and the handsomely stoic six-armed man continued to plague his thoughts. They were so physically different, but mentally, their ideals complimented each other -- and it scared him. It was the first time he had realized the fire that burned in the pit of his stomach. That blazing, unconditional determination that the Eypharian had almost immediately picked up on and even saved his life because of it.
Finally, after 'Twelve, no -- thirteen days,', Seven counted in his head, he had a stern resolution to see Rhode again. Having intentionally gotten there early, Seven found a spot a stone's throw away from most of the crowd where he slipped discreetly into the steaming, swirling, opaque water. He wasn't nearly as toned or muscular as many of the young men and knights that graced such a place with their presence. Seven was too feminine, too pale, too wiry, and painfully aware of it. A far cry from a knight or a squire.
Whenever someone would enter the communal room, Seven would snap out of his lucid alertness, only to grow disappointed time and time again when the newcomer was not Rhode. What are you going to do, anyway? Flag him down? And then what? What does one say to someone they find so absolutely enthralling? Shut up, idiot mind.
Seven had been soaking in the bath for no less than ten chimes when he noticed a familiar face -- and torso -- floating casually around the public pool before bumping unceremoniously into a woman. A smirk painted his lips and he sank into the water a little further. At least he would remain entertained as he waited for his Eypharian friend.