[ OPEN ] Hot Springs Episode!

[shri]

CHARACTERS: EVERYONE
WHERE: The Second Flight
WHEN: DAY :022
SUMMARY: The Sauna!
WARNINGS: Nekkid times.

[ A few hours after the murder, she hasn't blown the ship up, and here they are. Another knock knock on everyone's brain: ]

( For those of you that are interested - I have secured us a place at the Sauna. Free for us to be use without interruption from outsiders.

You are to be clean before you come in. )

[ Maybe you're here because she bullied you, maybe you want to soak - maybe you're the poor bastard that is standing guard at the door. Either way, welcome to the Suana, have fun. Or don't. ]

Comments

[shri]

I. TAKING A DIP

[ It is entirely selfish - organising all of this. Quartering off this section of their party. But at least she deigned to share this - desperately wanted thing. A memory of a time and place that she hadn't had in decades now. Maybe not quite the same - not her ladies, not often as she liked, no ability to dye fingers after they are freshly cleaned, but when she's - first in, stripped off to her skin and scars and untangled long black hair that she submerges herself all the way down. It might not be the same but after decades and decades slithering through gutters and trudging through mud a filth, and then the dust of the pilgrimage, it's a pure and utter relief that sings high as a hymnal praise.

The only thing that stays on her body, is the long silver chain with a phial around her neck that sits heavy between her breasts.

When she rises her head up out of the water, she's sodden and for once - there is something visibly relaxed to her. Doesn't bother to seek out conversation as she wades her way back to the edge of the pool. Her hair shifting out black tendrils across the water's surface as she hooks her arms against the Sauna pool's edge, tilting her head back, closing her eyes and letting herself drift off. The low fire of her mind is settled low, a steady contentment, the steady breeze through a high up window.

Disturbing her for at least the next ten minutes is at your own risk. ]

II. POOLSIDE

[ When she finally gets sick of laying in the wate. She pulls herself up and lays out a towel on the edge of the pool. Happily immodest, her eyes shut, her knees hook one over the other to curl her legs up and over herself, swinging back and forth in a lazy, content doze. The ugly exit wound of a scar on her right shoulder a spider webbed mess of white raised line to match the old bites and scratches deeper across her body.

Every so often she takes a clay bowl and tilts her head into the water so her hair falls into the water - and tips it over her head so it becomes sodden again. Turning her head back, settling more comfortably. Until the next time she does it - the bowl slips from her hand, bobbing across the surface of the pool. She tries desperately to swat for it as much as she doesn't want to lift herself up further than her elbows. So far as the movement just sends it further away - which, with a sigh, she looks up at the closest person, up on elbows, legs curled up, steam collecting on skin. She's still, extraordinarily content. ]

Do you mind getting that for me?

[gunlock]

[?? on it, boss]

[if lakshmi were just a tiny bit more aware of her surroundings, she would feel this coming miles away. but as she is--and should be--she's content in her little corner of heaven. too content to notice the patter of feet rushing on wet, ceramic tiles, and the battle cry of a haWK--]

Naga scales!

[whatever that means,,]

[but in he drops, a cannonball of catastrophic proportions, disturbing, in fact, what should have been a lovely, restful situation for lakshmi and others. he surfaces from the waves of destruction (one could think leviathan had been in charge of) shaking his head quickly like an overly excited puppy, laughing, unawares of his impending doom]

[shri]

[ He's easy to miss, with the wash of people moving around her in the small space - he's just one more mind, one more tap of feet. Happily laying about, she is easily oblivious to the general din of people that have joined them and she is content not paying real attention to any of them -

- until with a splash that drenches her. She starts up - like an animal that someone threw a bucket of water on. Not that she is bothered by the water so much - but more than her peaceful doze was subsequently ruined.

Rather she had figured everyone being on their best behaviour was a standard thought amongst them - not galavanting about like a untrained dog. She rises up onto her hands. Then to her knees as she gets into the water to stalk after that puppy and grab him by the ear - and it's impossible to miss the connection that hums between them. Even as she stands, stands, naked and all in the pool. ] Just what do you think you're doing, young man?

[gunlock]

[BY THE EAR, what is he, a child?]

Ah-- yeouch, yo!

[his laughter stops altogether and he looks up, only to flick his eyes away because that is an amount of boobs and lady parts he hasn't exactly been privy to in his life. the embarrassment is clear in the full-body flush.]

Clearly, I'm full of bad ideas. Sooorryyyy?

[shri]

I organised this for respite after the last few days -

[ She doesn't let go, hold firm and still not even remotely caring that she's bare as the day she was born. Good, let him squirm. ]

- not for us to go gallivanting about like children, am I understood?

II

[huntsmachines]

[ Aloy has been soaking for a good long while, enjoying the freedom and the feeling of warm water. As she finally stands, water beading down tanned skin, a small clay bowl begins to lazily bob past her. She blinks and reaches out to grab it on instinct--that shouldn't be there! Her usual braided here is all undone, a sodden mass of red that clings to her shoulders and back. Looking up, Aloy catches Lakshmi's eye as she's asked to grab the damned thing and grins, waving her catch in the air. ]

I have it!

[ Wading over to the steps, she emerges from the pool with the same casual immodesty which she has displayed in her whole time here. She pauses briefly to snatch up a towel to drape around her neck and circles back to Lakshmi. She crouches, the lines of scars tracing along her skin, and finally offers the bowl back. ]

Here. Is it alright if I join you?

[shri]

[ She doesn't lift her head particularly far, as the bowl is brought back by Aloy. She picks it up, and in the same manner that she has done in off beat rhythm, tips it over her hair. Letting it run the length, turning it shining-dark smooth. Falling into the water again. ]

Of course. As long as you wish.

[ Everyone else can do the moving, she doesn't feel like lifting a finger. ]

[huntsmachines]

[ Aloy smiles and lazily sprawls out next to Lakshmi to enjoy the steam and heat the sheer relaxation of this luxury. Towl half-draped over her form, she rests her head on crossed hands watches Lakshmi with attentive eyes, following her slow movements as she fills and empties the bowl. ]

This was a good idea.

poolside

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ Sam is equally immodest, entirely comfortable in his own skin as he lounges in the water. His own body comes with a myriad scattering of scars befitting a soldier, the most prominent of which are the old burns on his lower back. A memento of his early days of flight, just as much as his very well defined back muscles are.

It is what it is, and he makes no attempt to hide it or any other part of him when he shifts to snag the clay bowl that floats into view. He tugs it along the water next to him as he moves towards the edge of the pool, dunking it in to fill it before he sets it down next to her. ]

Can I braid it for you? [ It's an impulsive question, but a genuine one. ]

Re: poolside

[shri]

[ Lazy, slowly - her head lifts, turns, pushing her arms out from her a little further. She is enjoying herself - she is intent on enjoying herself, despite all that is between them, all that is not. One slow blink that says so much - utterly - to her contentment of the moment before she curls back underneath her head, crossing them brace opposite. Bemused perhaps, by the notion. That he would play handmaid if only in goodwill with something he wouldn't even know. He was not Kashibai, after all. ]

If you wish.

[ Her eyes rake - the once over before she takes the crook she made for herself and turns her hair to face him - laying her head into that comfortable space. ]

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ So is Sam - on all counts. He needs a break from all of this, and he's not planning on letting the opportunity go to waste.

He's too relaxed and content to do anything else.

He smiles when Rani agrees to let him, and he settles himself comfortably in the water as he gathers her hair up and runs his fingers through it. ]

My kind of braiding might be a little different than yours.

[ Vague feelings and snippets of memories bleed through - he'd done this for his first girlfriend, once; she'd told him that her dad was awful at it, but he was pretty sure she just liked to tease him and boss him around as he learned it. He'd never minded. Then he'd done it for his nieces, and here - he does it for Bucky, to keep his hair out of his eyes, and to give them both something to ground them. ]

[shri]

Everything you all do is different to what I know. Happily, I am not bothered by it.

[ It's drawled, without other lifting her head - she lets him go about running his fingers through her wet hair. Enough to do so. Her own flickered memories. Her hair, once, had reached as far as her hips to where it was cropped to mid back now. But that wasn't exactly that much less. It is thick and dark in his fingers, heavy for that matter. Enough for him to be kept busy. In some regards it was nothing but a bother to her - the hasty way she tended to push it out of her way, letting it hold that gold jewellery in place.

In other regards, the cutting of it all away - would be too much. Not if it was not done as it should have been once, all those years ago. Shaving her hair away, dressing in the mourning white. ]

II

[greentech]

[ Pidge is actually in the water, soaking up the warmth. But she's carefully keeping her eyes averted from most people and she's wearing her underwear still. She'll deal with soggy underthings, thanks. Besides, it's a sports bra. She'll be fine. Except that basically everyone else has decided to strip. She's floating, soaking in the steam, and doing her best to keep eyes on the ceiling. At least until Lakshmi's voice carries over the water. She glances over and then rolls, switching to a sort of sloshing dog-paddle as she skirts over to grab the bowl.

She's trying very hard to keep her yes on Lakshmi's face as she holds the bowl out. ]

Uh. Sure. No problem.

[shri]

[ Her head lifts, as she comes closer - raking her hair back, out of the way, a perfectly pleasant look on her face for the motion. A perfectly mild thing, thankful almost as she takes the bowl from her. Dipping it into the water. To fill it up - ] Thank you, young one.

[ - the tips the entire contents of it over her head. ]

[greentech]

You're welcome-

[ Pidge is in the middle of replying when there's a bowl of water dumped on her head. She sputters for a moment and reaches up to shove hair out of her eyes. She shoots Lakshmi a rather rueful look and spits out a few drops. ]

...thanks.

[ So deadpan. ]

[shri]

[ And Lakshmi tilts back in a peel of laughter - bright and cutting and warm. ]

You are most welcome, little one.

poolside!

[calhar]

[ Mat's gotten shockingly good at ignoring people as they come and go, or so long as they keep to themselves. He's half-napping in the pool when he hears her slapping at the water, though that's ignored, too; it isn't until she speaks up that he cracks an eye open to see what she's talking about.

The bowl nearly bumps into him, but he reluctantly pushes away from the edge of the pool and retrieves it before it gets the chance. The lighting's low enough and the water opaque enough (and high enough) that he doesn't feel overly self-conscious about stepping over to hand it over, though the way she's lounging on the ground does make it more challenging to keep his eyes on her face. Just on principle of negating the 'eyes up here' method, clearly. ]

Mat Cauthon— I don't think we've properly met. [ Which, on second thought: ] Not that this is very proper.

[ If he can deal with naked warrior women at home, he can handle shared baths. And for the most part, he does; he seems calm, confident, maybe just slightly amused. If anything's truly distracting, it's the scars he can see reaching over her shoulder and elsewhere. He's got a handful of his own, though save for the ugly dark welts around his neck they're all far more standard — nicks from knives and swords, not claws and teeth. ]

[shri]

[ She doesn't lift herself up as he comes closer further than she has too. Propping herself up by her elbows, her legs curling at the knee in a back and forth pendulum swing. ]

No we haven't, Master Cauthon. [ It shouldn't be as funny as it probably is, and she shouldn't just - drop this on people so randomly, it always made them funny. Without even having the reputation that went with her title. ] Maharani Lakshmi Bai, Queen of Jhansi.

[ It's clicked low, slight and warm - she is indulgent enough, right now, easy in the way she bows her head to him, the brief way her eyes flicker over him, over scars and water slick skin. Watched in halves, apparently. ]

lmfao god

[calhar]

[ The nonchalant swinging of her legs, the warm lilt of her voice — it's all charming. He doesn't even stumble over the use of Master, though it's a title he might've bristled at back home.

Then she calls herself a queen, and the unpleasant lurch of nerves is tangible across the link.

It's a stupid response. Whatever she's queen of, it's nowhere near here — she's got about as much command as he does. But the anxious response is Pavlovian at this point, like a rabbit caught in a trap, and logic doesn't do much to assuage it. Mat forces a smile and offers her the bowl, regaining his composure through sheer stubbornness and hoping that she's particularly out of touch with their connection. ]

If I'd known what you were hiding under those bloody robes, I wouldn't have taken half so long. Have you been here the whole time?

disturbing her

[sistershoggoth]

[ She sneaks slowly around the edge of the pool, determined not to alert Lakshmi to her presence at all. Difficult with the symbiote, but that is what makes it a challenge... Keeping the sense of herself and her goal below the surface... Until she can lean down where Lakshmi has her head tilted back, pressing a kiss to her temple. ]

[shri]

[ In one moment, she's quiet - in the next, she snaps up at the brush of a touch against her hair. Impossible to ignore. Catching Annie's wrist in one hand before she can get any further from her - meeting her eyes directly. Unwavering a moment before - she smiles. Light and warm, and leans to kiss the back of such the same hand. ]

[sistershoggoth]

[ Annie's smile is a sharper, more mischievous thing. ]

You were lookin' cozy.

here 2 ruin her day

[detestable]

[ What Seth has attempted is to cordon off sections of his mind. He's gotten good at compartmentalizing, so it stands to reason he should be able to relegate his brood to one small corner and keep all of them there. But despite his best efforts, their emotions leak past any barrier Seth attempts. Like Richie, they are all impossible to completely ignore.

Between Richie's mind lazily soaking in the luxury of a hot bath, and Lakshmi's obvious contentment, Seth's being slowly liquefied. He hadn't even intended to linger in the pool. He'd planned on keeping to himself at his edge of the pool, ignore Lakshmi and any other immodestly lounging Nest members, and leave after an appropriate amount of time. Seth had always been too tightly wound to really appreciate a sauna, and he's not about to drink enough to unwind in the aftermath of a goddamn murder. But it turns out, he doesn't need the help. The single drink he'd walked in with is abandoned on the side of the pool, half-full. He's unconsciously mimicked the pose Lakshmi had held earlier, elbow hooked over the edge, eyes closed, head tipped back. In all likelihood, he would have stayed like that for a fair amount of time if Lakshmi's bowl hadn't knocked into his chest, followed by her request. Seth lifts his head with a groan, squinting at the bowl before looking up at Lakshmi. ]

Can you catch it?

[ She probably can. Seth's uncertain of what Lakshmi's exactly capable of, but the scars are hard to miss. It's a good indication of how capable she is, seeing as how she looks like she's been put through a wood shredder.

Or a viper nest. But the latter passes from Seth's mind as he sits up straighter, shaking the lazy heat out of his mind as he weighs the bowl in one hand. ]

does he mind honestly

[shri]

[ It's a encompassing as steam, her contentment. Though she isn't directing it at him, or anyone else of the hive particularly - but what does it matter. Her gates are swung open, the walls sit high still but there is for once no canons pointed out from her. There is just her and her hair in the water and the way she lets her legs bend up and over, swinging back and forth in pendulum regularity - if but to a adagio pace.

His question to her request is - well. That is all that matters then. ]

Of course.

[detestable]

[ If Seth were inclined, he could delve right into her head. Maybe Richie would have. Richie likes to know everything. But Seth doesn't. He has enough of a read on Lakshmi for the moment, and needlessly exacerbating the friction between them wasn't going to get him anywhere.

Or it won't at the moment.

So he lifts the bowl and lobs it at her, sending ripples across the surface as he sits up. It's hard to shake the sluggish haze of contentment from his muscles. He's going to resent that more later than he does now. ]

You could cut out the middleman and just get back in the pool.

[ So he'll ruin things another way. But it's a better follow up than asking about her scar, or how unbothered she is by her own nudity. ]