[ 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

[skaikru]

( clarke and her stupid sentimentality could topple mountains. it's happened once before. )

Uh-huh. ( wry, a big of good natured humor still coloring her voice. sure asuka, you're not trying to drown yourself in communal bath water because that's such an easier thing to do than being appreciated. it would be cute if it wasn't tinged with sorrow. was it that so difficult to fathom, being cared for? it's been a while since clarke was able to look past the span of her time on earth and feel lucky, spoiled for love and comfort. her mother and father had been liberal with their declarations of love.

the thought that every child hadn't been afforded the same hand cuts deeply. her thoughts flick to misato and the manipulative picture of the woman that asuka had painted for her. then kaji, and that very telling disconnect from his own self that he'd showed her over a game of chess. but that line of thought is banished before it can even begin to impeed on her mood, or worse — creep across the mental link. )

Relax, Asuka. Please. We've all earned it, and who knows when we'll get the chance again. Here.

( it is so much easier to disband her own notions of modesty and the flustered embarassment of being naked in front of other members of the nest with the memory of the other girls prickling discomfort so recent. and so clarke stands, both arms tight across her chest to fight off the wet chill and preserve the illusion of decency. the water still manages to come up to her hips, but there's still the intense sensation of exposure. so clarke moves quickly, edging around to perch on the submerged ledge on the other side of asuka.

there's people all around them, but the pool is not overly croweded, nor perfectly circular. and if clarke sits on this side and angles her body just so, it's almost enough to curtain asuka off from the sight of the others. an illusion of privacy. see? no one's going to look at you. )

[redheadcarrier]

[ Look, she's not trying to drown herself, she's just. Hiding a little and avoiding look at Clarke because she's sure that if she does she's just going to keep blushing. A part of it is raw vulnerability. She's never really had anyone say "I care about you, I love you" and felt like they meant it. Another part is the way her heart skipped a little when Clarke said that and she doesn't really like the feeling (or she does and she's not sure how to deal with it). Her weird state of flustered-ness bleeds over the link, but she tries to keep it shut down. Although Clarke shifting over to her doesn't really help it. Instead, she scoots down a little on her seat and settles, making some room for Clarke as the other girl crosses over.

Her eye darts away as Clarke settles, but she seems to get the idea of what Clarke is trying to do and some of the tension eases out of her. She takes a slow, deep breath - she has to keep reminding herself that maybe she can actually trust people, as hard as it is. Even if a part of her wants to shrivel up and die, b ecause why would anyone care for her? And why should she need them anyway? It's a strange dichotomy, but she can't help it. It' just... step by step by step.

She settles and after a long moment, leans over and rests her head against Clarke's shoulder, feeling intensely vulnerable all the while. ]

...thanks.

[ Her hair falls over her face like a curtain, concealing the eyepatch and even if she can't see out of that eye, she still almost feels whole again. At least for a little while. ]

[skaikru]

( clarke allows the sentiment of gratitude to hang between them, acknowledged only with a soft hum in the back of her throat, and after that it's easy. slipping into a silent sort or relaxation, with asuka's head on her shoulder and presence a comfortable weight against her side. without the constraints of keeping a conversation going, clarke allows herself to close her eyes and tip her head back against a smooth outcropping of rock, her thoughts absorbing the warmth and relaxation of a casual doze in the hot springs. it's a forced sort of repose at first, like maybe if she exudes content enough some of that will rub off on asuka and allow the younger girl to stop feeling so much like a flighty deer in headlights.

but as the lavender infusions begin to overwhelm, and the humidity curls the baby hairs at the back of her neck damp with sweat, clarke begins to lean into the effects. aches she didn't know she'd been carrying since the first few days of walking, melt. worries and fears for the unforeseeable future become distant thoughts, items to be dealt with at a later date. the constant twist and pull of lingering hurt for the friends and lover she's alienated over the past few days are pushed to the back burner, persistently festering but no longer eating a hole in her soul.

questions still nag at her; clarke wants to know what happened to asuka to make her so hard and unbending, she wants to know more of her world than she'd casually absorbed through the connection with kaji and tense conversations with misato, she wants to ask what happened to her eye. but at risk of disrupting the tentative calms they've achieved, clarke buttons up those thoughts for another day.

instead, she dozes. )