[Soothing Waters] Soothing Water, Vibrant Conversation (Open

[John Griffin]

Late Afternoon, 16th of Summer, 510 AV
Soothing Waters Bath and Massage

Stark naked, John slipped into the community pool at the Soothing Water's facility. He let out a groan of pleasure as the cool, refreshing water surrounded his body. Leaving the towel and soap he had just paid for at the edge of the pool John submerged himself and pushed off the wall, taking a few weak strokes before standing up, a little closer to the center. Dozens of other patrons swam about lazily or washed themselves. Some just floated around, others leaned on the wall engaged in conversation. The place was busy, but not crowded, since most of the city was still at work. John spotted a few knights that he knew and gave them nods of acknowledgement, which were returned, before swimming weakly back to his soap and towel.

Today was a good day, he thought as he hung from the wall, his legs floating up near the surface. He had finished his second set of patrols, each set five days long, the day before. The constant walking in armor was tiring, but he was getting used to it. Still, his body was sore, and he would likely be getting sore after patrols for some time to come. That morning John had woke early to go make a few purchases. Not coming from a particularly prestigious or wealthy family, John had worn basic cotton clothing as a squire. Now a knight, and pulling a knight's wages, he had decided a few days past to buy some newer clothing befitting of his station.

He had gone out an bought four cotton doublets and two leather jerkins. Nothing fancy, but he was just an unranked knight. Still, they had made him feel a little more proper when he tried them on, so he had bought them.

After his errand John had decided it was time to relax, and clean himself while he was at it. He had walked the twisting corridors from his room to the pools, paid Ivis at the front and gotten some soap and a towel. He left his sword in his room, because even though he trusted the overall integrity of the city's citizens, he would not risk it's being stolen. Instead he brought only his dagger, and had stashed it, along with his clothes, in one of the lockers in the men's changing room.

Now John just floated in the pool, clinging to the edge, enjoying himself.

[Tyuru]

After wandering the castle for some time, listless and unemployed, Tyuru came across Soothing Waters. For a long time she'd been without a bath, and she broke out her small amount of mizas to treat herself. She paid for access to the bath and requested that her laundry be done, handed over the money and slipped into the changing room.

The lockers had no locks.

How tempting it was to steal something and run away. She wasn't very good at theft and opportunities like this hardly ever came her way. Oh, how she wanted to take something. It'd be easy as picking flowers. But she'd paid for a bath and besides, she had to wait for her clothes to be washed. Oh well. Perhaps she'd enjoy the water for a while until her clothes were clean, then perhaps she'd grab something on the way out.

For once, Tyuru was embarassed. It had been a while since she'd seen a proper mirror, and even longer since she'd undressed, so she didn't know how she looked without clothes. For all she knew, she could still be the gawky girl she was when she left Cyphrus, and she dreaded anybody noticing her awkwardness. If she herself didn't know what she looked like naked, how could she possible show her body to people she didn't know at all?

Blushing violently, Tyuru hurried over to the water and all but dove in. The water closed over her head and she relaxed, feeling the warmth seep into her and smooth over her tense muscles.

Of course, she quickly realised three things. Firstly, she was underwater, and she would probably need air soon. This was made apparent to her by her burning lungs. Secondly, she had grown up in the Sea of Grass, which hardly ever saw pools deep enough to bathe in, even in the flood season. This meant she had no idea how to swim. Thirdly, she was sinking.

Tyuru began panicking, thrashing her arms and kicking her legs. The general idea of swimming, she thought, was to flail about a bit until you broke the surface and to never, under any circumstances, take in a lungful of water.

Thankfully, Tyuru's foot found the bottom of the bath and she kicked upward desperately. To her surprise, her head broke the surface. She lunged for the side of the bath and held on for dear life. It came to her attention that the bottom of the pool really wasn't that far from the surface and she probably had very little chance of drowning in it. Hanging from the side of the pool, her feet were actually pretty close to the bottom, and she could probably keep her nose above the water if she stood on tiptoe. This thought almost cheered her. She wrung out her hair with one hand, frowning. She hand't meant to get it wet, although it was good to wash it, she supposed.

Breathing heavily, she sunk into the water in order to keep most of herself hidden, crossing an arm over her chest and holding on to the wall with the other. Now that she could relax, the water was really very pleasant, and she let the water reach her collarbone before stopping. Perhaps she could pass for a princess after this bath. She should have bought soap with which to properly clean herself.

Taking the time to look around, Tyuru noticed with a start that she wasn't alone in this part of the pool. A short distance away was a young man, also clinging to the wall. Tyuru was suddenly acutely aware that everybody in the bath was very, very naked.

[Wow! My first posts are always very long. ^-^ I hope you don't mind if I join you. ]

[Blackthawne]

Blackthawne had had, in short, a very tiring day. He'd spent the day walking, asking the locals about the area and the best place to relax. Due to his pure desire to gather accurate information, he had ignored the Soothing Waters suggestion until the dozenth time or so it was given to him. Now, he was here.

"Bath, please... And also could my clothing be clean for me when I return? Thank you..."

After paying the due amount, and following the directions given, Blackthawne stood at his locker, and dropped his heavy travelling bag to the ground. Sighing quietly with the relief of all the weight off of his shoulders, he undressed quickly, setting his clothing in a neat pile on top of the bag in his locker, before finally standing his sword behind them carefully. Then, closing the locker and setting off to the baths, only to be halted by his reflection in the mirror as he passed by.

Man, this travelling is putting the muscle on me...

He wasn't wrong. Having grown up as quite a slim, athletic looking young man, the three years he had been travelling after the loss of his parents had toughened him up, and he was proud of his newfound adventurers appearance. Grinning to himself for a moment, he then moved into the baths, his face sliding to a neutral look as he peered around for a moment.

Two people immediately registered in his mind, the handful of others scattered around the bath not bothering him much... the other two were closer. A woman, and another young man. The woman struck his attention immediately due to her long flowing copper colored hair, which brought a hint of a smile onto Blackthawne's face for a moment as he slid into the water a short way off to the side of her, as his eyes quickly took in the other man he had noticed. He seemed to just be letting himself float a while, clinging to the edge of the pool to keep himself harbored.

With a quick start, he realised there only seemed to be himself and the two others in this section of the pool. To remedy his moment of blank-mindedness, he simply rested his elbows on the side of the pool and allowed himself to sink shoulder-deep into it, deciding to let the water relax him, as it should.

"What a day..." he said softly to himself, allowing his eyes to slide shut slowly.

((Hope y'all don't mind me joining, first time on the site so... bath houses are the perfect start! Relaxing! ))

[John Griffin]

John caught a glimpse of a girl as she hurriedly jumped into the water. He watched for a moment as she stayed underwater then started flailing about. Hardly a swimmer himself he was nevertheless about to try to help when she made her way up to the surface and over to the wall a several feet away from him. Used to the nudity that dominated the baths, he was not at all uncomfortable by his nakedness, nor aroused by hers. It took more than just a glance for those that frequented the baths to get excited, and those that did usually just said in the water until it had passed and they could get out and towel off without embarrassment. John's lack of arousal didn't equal disinterest. Even through the girl's wet hair he thought she had a fairly pretty face, and the baths were nothing if not a place to socialize.

Further down John saw another young man slide into the pool, relaxing on the wall like the rest of them.

Looking back towards the girl and mustering his courage, for John was not that great at social encounters, he flipped himself over so he was facing the wall, and slid himself down the wall, arm over arm. His lower body floated in the pool, his bare bottom breaking the surface of the water.

He closed the distance and stopped two feet away from Tyuru. Smiling meekly he tried to speak, but nothing came out. Clearing his throat softly he tried again, "Don't come here often do you?"

(Glad to have you both here!)

[Tyuru]

Gazing blankly around the pool area, Tyuru noticed another young man come in, also very naked. Blushing, she looked away before she caught his eye, but she did notice the shadow of a smile he gave when he looked at her.

Oh, gods, the other man is coming over here. Tyuru was very uncomfortable with nudity. It didn’t excite or arouse her. It just made her extremely embarrassed, and she fixed her eyes on to the broken image of her knee through the warm water. She managed to grin a little roguishly and said, in a joking tone, “How dare you insult my hygiene habits. Of course I bathe often.” This wasn’t strictly true. Mostly Tyuru cleaned herself up in whatever water she could find, including puddles. She disliked spending money because she had no source of income (other than her rather desperate attempts at larceny that tended to fail very badly more often than not) and she had no way of finding one in the foreseeable future. She didn’t know if an emergency requiring the rest of her money would arise. Her mentality was that she shouldn’t squander money on something when she could do almost as well without paying anything. As if to remind her of this, her stomach panged silently in hunger.

Oh, stop thinking about yourself for a second, won’t you? Tyuru berated herself. She tore her eyes from the water and glanced at the eyes of the redheaded man. They were the most interesting eyes Tyuru had seen for a while. Fascinated, she stared for a while. “I’ve had quite a day myself,” she said quietly, mostly to herself, then blinked, smiled, and looked away.

Suddenly she became curious about the eyes of the lighter-haired young man (and it suddenly occurred to her that she was being rude by not making eye contact, anyway, and also for staring, because she had been brought up with manners and staring was rude.). Being careful not to look anywhere else (especially toward the very naked young man’s body) and still rather pink, Tyuru made eye contact with the first man and smiled sheepishly. He had green eyes, she noted with delight. She enjoyed other’s eyes because she found her own boring. Brown was so common an eye colour. “No, I don’t come here very often. I’m a little put out by the, oh, you know. The lack of clothing. In a public place.” Come on, show a little spine, Tyuru. “But, er, the water’s… quite nice…” That was terrible. There’s a naked man next to you and another further away and all kinds of naked people everywhere in this room, and the best you can do is “the water’s quite nice”. Not to mention you’ve noticed that both of these naked men are rather good looking and toned. Go on, blame your hormones, like you usually do.

Trying for a valiant save, Tyuru added, “I’m sorry, my conversation skills aren’t really up to par. I’m Tyuru.” Flushing the slightest shade darker, she removed her arm from her chest, sinking deeper into the water, and offered it awkwardly. “Excuse my arrival, I have no idea how to swim.”

[John Griffin]

The girl made a joke and gave a little smile, but seemed to be adamant about not looking at him. Was she more nervous than he? Not the situation John usually found himself in. As a fourth generation knight and something of a bookworm, he was not particularly social. Shy until he really got into a conversation, or grew comfortable with someone, breaking the proverbial ice was awkward for the young man. Unable to help himself John glanced down at the girl's body. The woman's body, rather, he thought, his eyes returning to her face. She was younger, but probably only by a year or two. Three at the most.

Thinking about it he figured there was one of two explanations for her behavior. Either she was just not a social person, or she was not used to the nudity natural to the baths. Possibly even both! He was leaning towards the latter, and thought even more so when she finally met his eyes. Then she confirmed it.

John smiled warmly, "I imagine it would be off putting to an irregular visitor." Laughing softly, he continued. "Yes, it is nice." His heart was beating fast. Where was this social courage coming from? Normally he'd rather face three armed bandits than a pretty girl he didn't know.

"Don't be sorry, I'm not exactly the most eloquent of conversationalists either." He took the offered hand, his eyes flicking down towards it, then unconsciously past it to her submerged chest. Realizing such, he forced them back up to her eyes, giving her hand a light shake with a firm grip before releasing it. "My name's John." Attempting a joke of his own, he said, "But you flounder about most gracefully," finishing with a small smile.

He looked to the nearby man, who's eyes were closed at he floated on the edge of the pool, then back to Tyuru.

"So, Tyuru," he asked, "Do you live here in Syliras?

[Tyuru]

The flick of the young man’s eyes lower than her hand didn’t go unnoticed by Tyuru, seeing as she was determinedly keeping her eyes focused on his. She’d had men look at her before, of course, because that’s what men do, simply because they are men and they can’t help it at all. It wouldn’t have bothered her at all, except that the last time she’d been naked in the immediate company of a man, it had been against her will. These memories stayed hidden in a dark corner of her subconscious in a small, dust-covered chest that was tightly sealed, and she preferred to keep it that way. If she thought about it too much, she would likely lose her mind.

Unsure whether to feel flattered or afraid, Tyuru settled for a confusing mixture of both that sped up her heart rate and made her nervous simultaneously. The young man had a good handshake, she noticed. And arms that were neither too skinny or muscled, but seemed to her to be at the right place in between, so that she could tell he was able to use some kind of weapon or worked in a job that required a fair deal of strength. She was surprised at the sudden envy she felt. He was lucky to be able to learn to use some kind of defence.

“I suppose it’s the water, ‘it’s so relaxing it feels like my mind is simply too lazy to come up with any interesting conversation. It’s nice to meet you, John. And I do like to think that I floundered with the utmost dignity.” These words were accompanied with a sincere smile. It had been a long time since Tyuru had done one of those. Sincerity was a rare treat lately.

“It seems most people also enjoy these baths. I should come here more often.” Her eyes drifted over the people, passing over the red-haired man whose eyes she had admired. He, too, had nice arms. Stop being such a hopeless teenager, Tyuru, you’re supposed to be a woman, remember? Gods, you’re acting like a thirteen-year-old, blushing at the sight of a little flesh. She couldn’t help but mentally snort in derision at her own inner voice’s words.

John’s question made her a little uneasy. Should she lie? She would hate to be pitied because she refused to pay to live in the city. Currently she was camping just outside the Main Gate, using her money for food and barely earning any extra to use on luxuries, like the bath. “Oh, well, I plan to be around here for a while.” She anchored herself to the wall by turning to face John more and resting the elbow and forearm of one arm on the edge, the water level sinking lower over her skin as the new, rather more confident position raised her a little further out of the water. She hoped this would distract John from the fact that she hadn’t answered his question. Instead, she changed the subject to what most people found the easiest thing to talk about: themselves.

“What about you? I’m sure you’ve got an excellent albeit humble abode in a good part of the castle. Or do I assume too much of you?” Tyuru asked, another sincere and rather childish smile slipping its way out of the mask of feminine allure she was holding on to feebly.

[OOC: It seems I overlooked Blackthawne’s eyes being closed! Er, okay, here’s a save: Tyuru admired his eyes before he closed them, then she replied to John’s very valiant attempt at conversation. I hope that fixes my mistake. ^-^’ Sorry, it’s late and I’m very prone to mistakes.]

[Blackthawne]

((OOC: He didn't close his eyes straight away so, thats all fine ^_^ I hadn't even noticed a mistake until I read the ooc portion ))

Blackthawne had re-opened his eyes and smiled slightly at the woman after she had replied to his small ramble to himself, but as he had opened his mouth to speak, the other gentleman had made his way over and struck up a conversation with her, so in his usual fashion, he stayed where he was and merely waited. Well, waited and listened as it so happens. As he listened to the conversation, Blackthawne decided it was the correct time to wash himself... He could always relax afterwards, and even if the opportunity arose attempt to at least make two acquaintances within the city walls... Perhaps one of them could even point him in the right direction towards his goals.

So, as the two made small jokes about the dignified entrance the woman had made, "Whatever that was" he thought to himself, he spun himself around and picked up his soap, methodically lathering his upper body from the waist upwards in soap, including his firey hair. Barely even thinking about it as he washed, he began to quietly hum under his breath... it sounded quite a mellow tune, one his mother used to sing to him as a babe, the words long forgotten but the tune still a fond memory.

The conversation turned to the lodging of the two conversationalists, and Blackthawne perked up slightly, involuntarily turning his head to peer over at the two as he rinsed the soapy water from his upper body. He corrected himself after a few moments, his cheeks tinting themselves a slight red shade, which always has a comic effect with his red hair.

Do not stare, Man... Eavesdropping is rude enough, nevermind staring as you do so!

Grinning at the scolding in his own mind, reminiscent of his late fathers, Blackthawne spun and rested his elbows back against the sides of the bath, and let himself merely float... Ensuring to atleast keep his lower body slightly submerged. The woman seemed quite shy to begin with, having his manhood waving around in the bathhouse was sure to make her conversation rather awkward.

[John Griffin]

John nodded his assent to Tyuru's assessment of the water and its effects. "The pleasure is mine, Tyuru." He returned the sincere smile with one of his own, glad that his well intentioned jab had not been taken with offense. They so often did and usually the conversation ended shortly thereafter.

John nodded again, looking around as she mentioned the other people. For a moment he thought he saw the red haired man looking at them, but dismissed it as unlikely. Why would he possibly be interested in the the pair? A brief scene played through his head where Tyuru was running from some horrible people, and the man with the fiery hair was chasing her, but he dismissed that as well. John, you read too many stories as a kid.

"Yes, a decent amount of the population are normal patrons here, or so it seems. You should come here more often, it's a great place to relax, to just let the worries of the world wash away with the soap. At least for a little while. It's also a great place to meet pleasant company." John gestured at Tyuru, meaning her, but his hand gestured a little low and it was almost as if he was gesturing towards her chest. With a crimson blush of his own he looked away for a few brief moments.

"Do you now? Have you been in the city long?" came John's inquiry.

John returned Tyuru's smile again. "I do have a most humble abode up in the third tier, so no, you do not assume to much." He echoed Tyuru's movement and turned more to face her as well, taking his closer arm off the wall and turning onto his side.

[Tyuru]

The man behind Tyuru had begun washing himself. She could tell because the faint scent of soap was wafting toward her. Still slightly pink, she kept her eyes firmly on John’s. Oh gods, everybody’s naked. Are those two people over there… shyke, they are… my goodness, I didn’t even know that was possible, how is she able to bend that way…? Not to mention there were naked men everywhere. Especially two very naked men, one on either side of her, once again, she thought, both very toned and very handsome. A groan of frustration built up in her throat but she swallowed it. This was going to be another long day. A very uncomfortable, very long day.

Don’t think about it, answer his question, go on, you’re being rude, for petch’s sake don’t think about it, you’ll die of embarrassment. Tyuru tried to mask over her discomfort with a smile. “You flatter me. I’m hardly pleasant company. I can be a bit tactless at times.” How true. Oh, look, he’s blushing. Great. Not only are there naked men surrounding you, one of them has eyes that seem to stray. It’s not that bad, at least he’s not really old or really ugly or something like that.

“I’ve been here for about a season now. I’m looking for work.” This was also true. She needed some source of income before she ran out of money. “What about you? As you live here, I assume you’ve got a job? What do you do?”

Anchoring herself with one elbow, Tyuru had been absently waving her feet back and forth in the water beneath her, and she found her lower body floating toward the top of the pool behind her. Her lower back broke the surface of the water before she realised what was happening and by tensing her stomach she stopped herself rising out of the water completely. However, her foot brushed something behind her, something that felt like skin. Startled, she pulled her legs in underneath her and sunk back into the warm water, turning to look at the red-haired man. “Oh!” she said in slight shock, pressing a hand to her heart in the universal sign for ‘wow, that was frightening’ and smiling sheepishly, “sorry about that, I’m not terribly good at being in water in general.” Go on, make it a little less awkward, you can do it. “Also, it seems John and I have been rude, ignoring you. Please forgive us.” The sheepish smile hovered uncertainly about her lips. A very, very, very long day.