Cuttersbury: Drych Lake Spa- Hot Springs

"Used to?" Nani scoffed and crossed her arms. With a grin she retorted, "I still am! But I can't deny you on the love of water." She took a step forward, only to look pause and look back. "Oh yeah, the old timer." Nani spun on her heel and went back to the door she entered in. The pirate poked her head out and looked out the door. "Oi, Gramps! You wouldn't mind me postponing that massage right? I think I'll stick around here for a bit! Besides, afterward I'm sure they'd all find that a good idea!" Despite asking, she didn't really give the guy time to answer. She saluted and disappeared back into the Hot Springs.

Somewhere, there was a place to- "Aha!" Nani slid her way to the changing room and stripped down and grabbed a towel to walk her way back to the springs. The bandana around her head came off, causing her hair to fall over her eyes, which in turn was part of the reason she wore it. And not just because it looked cool.

"Best. Mission. Ever." Each word caused the pirate to slide further into the spring until she was neck deep and sitting with the others. "Weeee should come back here. All the time." Nani commented and looked up as Cap continued to whistle a tune, despite the odd antics of the Guilders who were suppose to be relaxing.

"As I always say, work like a captain and play like a pirate."

Drych Lake Spa: Hot Springs

Quentin's straight face morphed into a smirk of mischievous delight at Marcus's discomfort. Up until this moment, the wind mage had seemed unflappable.

Ha ha, unflappable. Like flapping in the wind. Wait, speaking of...

Quentin reached over and snagged his towel, still drifting along in the water. He wrung it out, feeling the steaming water squelch between his fingers.

"Me? A ladies man? No, not at all," Marcus assured him.

"Oh, come on," Quentin snickered, giving him an exaggerated, good-natured elbowing in the arm. "The girls must want to eat you up."

Marcus appeared thoughtful for a moment. At length, he said, "Besides, I'm sure most women would prefer a man with a bit more of a...manly physique?"

Quentin tossed his head back and shook it. "There's a whole market for dudes like you. Beautiful, slim, and--"

"You'd better not be a ladies man, Marcus!"

Quentin stopped. For a moment, he wondered if Marcus could use his wind mage to amplify Estelle's decibel levels. It could be as loud as a thunderclap. Something to consider later, the water mage reflected. Then, he smiled archly. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back over the partition, "If we can't peek, you can't eavesdrop!"

Cap squawked. "Ladies man!"

Quentin was instantly transfixed by the talking bird, who was now whistling. "Yo, what other songs you know?"

Cap turned his eyes on Quentin. The parrot let out another squawk before calling, "Are ya ready, kids?"

"Aye-aye, Captain."

"I can't hear you!" Cap chirped.

"Aye-aye, Captain!" Quentin shouted.

Bird and mage broke out into song. Quentin playfully made water stream about in arcs as he sang, unintentionally squirting water in Tobi's face.

Drych Lake Spa: Hot Springs

“This… this is awesomeeeeeeee…”

"Isn't it?" Aria slid into the water, sighing with contentment as the heat of the water quickly began to loosen her muscles. The dull ache in her shoulder subsided quickly as she leaned back with a big grin. If she had a choice she wouldn't want to get out ever.

She flipped over when Nani entered, propping herself up by placing her arms on the cool rocks lining the water and nodded along to Estelle's suggestion. "Yes, you should join us. Or feel free to go and get some cold drinks and then join us," she winked. "but the water's absolutely wonderful. It'd be waste not to come here sometime."

Conversation from the men's side drifted over and she raised a much amused eyebrow. Wasn't it usually the women who were supposed to talk about things like that? Estelle's outburst only made her smile wider. "Isn't young love adorable?" She commented idly to Nani who had returned from changing in the locker room as Estelle's face flushed. Another familiar voice had her looking round, only to realize that Trixie had somehow ended up on the men's side of the bath.

She called out over the partition- "Trixie, you're on the wrong side of the bath! We're over here," before flipping over and leaning back again with a laugh. Everyone was going to end up in the baths at this point.

Cuttersbury: Drych Lake Spa- Hot Springs

Marcus leaned back against the edge of the hot springs, relaxing as everyone else around became engaged in relaxation and merriment, from Tobi’s swimming about the pool, to Quentin’s chippy singing with Nani’s companion, Captain, and Lute’s own mild embarrassment at his earlier stumble and fall into the spring. He had to admit, this felt a lot better then he had expected it to, and he could feel himself remaining in here and enjoying the muscle relaxing warmth for a good many hours, even if he perhaps shouldn’t.

He looked down, eyeing the arm length tattoo of a venomous snake coiling around his scarred right arm, its mouth poised to bite its own tail. This was the same arm that had once been savagely mauled by one of the dire wolves they had faced in their mission of Weir’s woods, all trace of injury gone save the minor scars. He had been grateful that so far, no one had seen fit to ask him of it or the tattoo, which had either been hidden by his towel, the steam rising from the springs, or the water itself. He wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed of it in any sense of the word, it was just a long and difficult story that would be far too hard to explain.

BAM



"All right, everybody! This is a stick up! ... ... wait, wait no, that sounds like I'm trying to rob you." Trixie skidded into the male’s side of the springs, interrupting Quentin’s jovial singing alongside Cap and drawing everyone’s attention towards her. "That's not what you say when you rescue people, right? I mean! Who needs help, cuz I'm here to help you! ... oh!" Almost dishearteningly, she lowered her guns. Nobody seemed to be attacked or bleeding. Just a bunch of naked guys in the pool. Nothing interesting here.

"Hahaha... I guess no one needs help, right? Just... testing my heroism and how fast I can run and stuff."



“Trixie!” Tobias waved his hand enthusiastically from side to side with a mighty grin, standing up in the pool. “Hey! Hey! You should totally try the hot springs, Trixie! They’re fantastic!”

Unfortunately, Tobias’ standing up had occurred sans his towel, which was floating away from him. He was oblivious to it.

“Yaaaah!” Lute screamed, diving in the way of the ghastly obscene sight in a hope to spare Trixie’s innocence. Unlike Estelle, however, Trixie didn’t scream. In fact she seemed rather oblivious to it whatsoever and instead walked over to the springs and dunked her finger into the water, testing the heat.

“Hahaha,” Marcus stood up, wrapping his towel around him and getting out of the hot spring, offering Trixie his hand to take. “I think we should take you to the right side of the springs, Trixie. Estelle, Aria and Nani are all on the other side.”

Drych Lake Spa – Hot Springs

Lute just laughed at the voices that came through from the other side of the partition. Well, it looked like the girls were enjoying themselves, at least. “Hey Marcus- or anybody, really- what is wrong with being a ladies’ man, anyway?” The virtuoso waded closer to the others just as Tobi passed by on one of his laps. Just before his question could be answered, however, the door to their section of the spa swung open and a couple of people ran inside.

“Whoa whoa whoa, Trixie! What are you doing here!?” The prankster even pulled out her guns! Oh, she must’ve come running after hearing that scream… Who knew Estelle had that loud a voice? Delilah was certainly impressed. At any rate, she shouldn’t be here…! Although to be perfectly honest, Trixie didn’t seem to notice that something was out of place so maybe he should leave it at that?

A song and a failed attempt to protect Trixie’s innocence later, Lute had settled into the shallower edges of the pool. There didn’t seem to be anyone else coming…? “Hey Trix, did you bring anyone else with you?” He asked the girl, noticing someone lurking within the locker room. Whoever it was was well-hidden by the steam.

Drych Lake Spa - Hot Springs
Tau's horror at Trixie barging into the men's section with guns drawn and all soon died down. Oh good, it was only the Guilders in here. Not that he could have done that much, since this chick was actually faster than him. Wait, wasn't Harvey supposed to be here? With Jasper? He must have finished.

“Hey Trix, did you bring anyone else with you?”

"Tau, at your service," Tau announced eagerly, at the side of the spa in a flash with his hand outstretched. He wanted to get in there before the crazy chick started announcing him her sidekick again or anything. He made absolutely no secret of peering through the steam for a certain place on their anatomy, which was quite the contrast to Trixie's obliviousness. It's natural for a dude to want to compare! Competition is healthy for the soul. Especially when your competition is this cool. They barely seemed worried about exposing themselves at all! "The hot springs are wicked, right? Sometimes we sneak in here at night when Mrs Ste isn't looking... Oh, I think I'm supposed to ask you if you want anything..."

He leapt up with suprising agility, snatching a hold of the top of the barrier and shouting over to the other side. "Hey, girls! Want me get you-"

A wet towel smacked him in the face, causing him to fall right into the men's springs once more with a splash.

In the darkness, Rhoden shook his head. Tau still had a ways to go.

---

Shortly after the final three members of the Pride arrived, having finally decided to check up on everyone in case. Moira and Syed, having never been to a hot spring before, were suprised to find it was something people do nude at the least. Syed was even more horrified when Moira dragged him in the ladies section with her, scrunching his eyes and refusing to open them by even a millimetre until they were done. He had never felt so vunerable in his life. And was probably the envy of most straight men.

Moira being Moira, she didn't give a shit.

The Guilders continued to have fun and relax in their typical rambunctious manner as the afternoon turned to evening, and then to night. After a hard day's work of beating up Varren, getting massages, soaking in springs and getting their nails done, they were treated to a fantastic meal. While maybe not to the level of the food at Las Paraisos or Hawthorne Manor, it was still of very high quality. The various members of staff continued to flit around, and even little Janie hovered about. Although she seemed a little intimidated by the loud group and mostly kept her distance. Penelope was nowhere to be seen.

Neither was Tau. He was too busy scrubbing the toilets in punishment for his actions in the springs.

Finally, it was time to retire to bed. After such an exhausting day, they deserved it. In the morning, all they had to do was check the Varren were truely gone then claim their reward. Things had never been so simple.



To be continued...