"Okay, hurry back," he called out as she left, then turned back to his wolf. As the meat was roasting over the flame he started reminiscing about his days in the village, it was something he had grown accustomed to as there was very little to do when roasting meat like that. "Huh," he said to himself, "bathtime," and he began to remember what it had like back then. On bath day all the kids in the village would go to the spring and splash around together. Then the parents would cone and help their kids get clean, everyone looked forward to it. He laughed a little as he remembered a tip he took with his mother to a nearby village on bath day. When he arrived at the house he was staying at he had assumed there was a group bath in a spring just like his village, but he quickly found out otherwise and was told most places don't
Have a group bath. He laughed a little more as he realized just how silly he had been and then started taking the meat off and preparing it.

When she had finally gotten to the bottom of the mountain, where the stream met with the land below, she was pleased so see that there was a small waterfall, it being about a foot taller than her when standing straight up, She slipped off her slippers and held them in one hand, the other hand holding the bucket, and then dipped her toes into the water to feel it's temperature. It was cool, but not too cold, and she walked into the stream just far enough so that it came up to her ankles. The bottom of the stream was covered with small, smooth, flat pebbles and sand, and she walked towards the waterfall with slight curiosity. I wonder if there is a cave behind here as well, she thought to herself mildly. As she drew closer, she was disappointed to not find a cave, but happy to find a slight overhang of the rocks above that the water fell from, and she could see there was a bit of a ledge behind the water that she could go stand under. She put her shoes in the bucket, and quickly dipped under and behind the waterfall, her hair getting wet in the process. The area behind was about 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep, not very spacious but enough to sit down on her knees in. She sat, and watched the blurry image of the other side from behind the water.
She realized she did not want to be gone to long, so she got up and and left back to the outer area, and walked back to the edge of the stream, and rubbed her feet dry on the grass before putting her slippers back on. She filled the bucket up with water, and noted she would have to do this two more times before the tub would be almost completely full like she liked her bath tubs to be. She walked back to the cave, and as she walked to the bath chamber, her voice trailed back to him saying, "I will have to walk back twice more to get more water. I found a water fall that is only a bit taller than me, maybe a foot at most, but it was pretty none the less." She poured the bucket of water into the tub, and headed back to the cave entrance, the smell of the meat roasting lingering in her nostrils.

"Alright hurry back," he said as she once again left the cave. He took the roasting meat off the spit and began to portion it out, then went to check on one of the side rooms. He walked into a room off the right and pulled back some vines he had strung to the ceiling. He went in and saw the few meager things he had left from his days in the village. He sat down and picked up a piece of cloth. He thought back to the days when he would carry this little blanket with him everywhere, and when he would wonder through the woods, it would remind him he would be home someday. "This isn't just a cave anymore," he said to himself, "its a home, no more running, I'm home,"

She went back to the stream, gathering another bucket, and came once again to the cave and poured it into the tub. She left once more, knowing this would be the final trip to the stream in order to fill the bath, and she paused on her way back, picking up some wild flowers by the base of the mountain. Some were white, and small, while the others were long stemmed and fell in blue long petals downward, almost a purple. She made her way back to the cave, and went to the fire, and hung the bucket over it on one of the several wooden spit fires above it, so it would heat but be far enough so as the wooden bucket didn't catch fire. She picked up her little bag, and carried it back to the bath chamber with the flowers she had picked. She sat them down on the little table she had noticed in the chamber earlier, and then opened her bag. She pulled out a nightshift and a shaw, and then looked around for a towel. Then she slowly came to the realization that there may not be any towels, that maybe that was a luxury as well, but she still figured she would ask.
As she came back to the fire pit, she cautiously took the bucket of hot water down, and called out, not seeing him, "Gryson? Do you happen to have any towels?", and then headed back to the bath chamber and poured the war water into the bathtub while she waited for his reply.

Gryson stood up and walked out of the room and tried to think. "Towel, towel, oh those," he chuckled a little remembering the posh cloths of a luxurious village he once visited. "No, but I have some moss you can use, I'll grab you some." Then he walked down a corridor and grabbed a pile of moss. Then walked back down the hall to the bath chamber and tossed the soft moss to Rosemary. "Enjoy." He said, "I'll go look for some fruit to go with dinner, be right back,". And then he went out of the cave . As night was falling he walked down to a nearby patch and picked some bright red strawberries. He grabbed as many as he could carry and went back to the Cave.

She reached out, catching the moss, and then stood still, looking at it quietly. Moss, she thought to herself, repeating the word in her mind continuously as she turned to the table where the flowers were. She sat it down, her upper lip twisting a tiny bit at the corner, and she shook her head as she realized how much life had genuinely changed. She plucked the petals from the flowers, and dropped them into the tub before removing her clothes and climbing into the bath. It wasn't steamy hot like back at the castle baths, but the one bucket from over the fire had made the temperature comfortably warm. She relaxed quietly, and then remembered she had no soap either. With a small sigh, she remembered there were apples in her bag, and she remembered how some of the village women used those for soap. She only knew because one of her bath maids had showed her that those and pears could be used for soap, and would leave your skin smelling sweet, while the water in the tub took away the sticky residue from the fruit itself. She reached over, and got her bag from the table, pulling out an apple and a small dagger her father had given her a few years ago during a rebellion against them. She sliced the fruit in half, placing half back in the bag, and then began to wash herself.
After she was done, she stood up and reached for the moss, and sighed quietly as noticed there was still dirt falling from underneath it. She dipped the moss in the floral and fruit scented bath water, and then twisted it, ringing out all the water from it, so the dirt had been removed from it. Then she dried herself off, and slipped on her pastel lavender night shift, and wrapped her wet hair up in the shawl, which was white with lavender swirls on it. Her small feet were bare, not having any room slippers, another luxury lost to this whole ordeal of the darkness. She was not exactly sure what to do with the bath water, but she did go and hang the damp moss on one of the jagged crystals that jutted out of the upper wall to dry.

Footsteps could be heard echoing through the cave as Rosemary walked into the main chamber. Gryson was sitting in one of the hammocks ripping into a piece of wolf when he saw her. Her hair wrapped in the shawl and her petite frame wrapped in the beautiful night slip making her look the princess she is. Her clean bare-feet a sight he hadn't seen in years, even when he had been in the village the female goblins had ghostly-white hairy boney feet, but hers seemed soft and tender. It was as if a goddess had entered the room with him. At the sight of her he lost track of what he was doing and simply sat there until he remevered where he was and simply asked, "strawberry?"

A soft hint of a smile came to her lips as she noticed him take in the sight of her, she had not seen a person be taken aback by her naturally in some time. Usually they came in search of her company, hoping favor or courting or a future betrothal because of her royal standing, and did care about her as a person or even act interested until later, if at all. Usually they had only seen paintings of her, or heard the talk of how she looked, and it was nice to see someone stunned and not instantly hungry for her body or power. She giggled, and then came to sit beside him in the hammock, saying, "I would love a strawberry."
She took one out of his hand, and popped it into her mouth, and then picked a piece of meat from the morsel that he had started to eat, and nibbled at it. "Is there a cotton field around here? I know my mother used to get little face cloths and handkerchiefs made from cotton, from a little village near the mountain side somewhere," she said, thinking about making something for her feet, and perhaps his too. "I haven't had wolf since last Christmas-Tide festival, this is actually really good. When did you learn to cook by yourself?" She turned her head to look at him again, her eyes settling onto his as usual.

His cheeks turned as red as the strawberry in his hand when she giggled and then sat next to him. As she spoke he listened intently cherishing every word of their conversation. Then thought about it for a few minutes. "I think there might be a cotton field somewhere near here,I seem to remember some travelers coming through this area once, I think they said something about cotton" he said, "as far as food goes I kinda just taught myself how to cook over a while," he continued, a little bit proud that she found his cooking good. "After a few years I just got pretty good at it," he looked over at the beautiful girl next to him and realized just how lucky he had been today. This morning he had been all alone, wondering where he would get his next meal from, but now he was sitting next to this princess who had literally fallen into his world, enjoying a great meal and actually talking to someone other than himself. "That tub in there," he said,"I Made it myself using some stone and wood, I even added a spot for the water to drain out, I can go take care of that If you want to sleep," he said before leaning over towards her and sniffing, "You smell like apples," he said matter-of-factly.

As their conversation went on, she did not get anything more from the cooked meat for her own self, but simply picked and nibbled at what he had already in his hands, until they had both finished it. "I don't know how to cook anything, other than a few pies or fruit stuffed buns, or maybe a few drinks. I only know those from lingering with my nurse maid in the kitchen as a child, and from sneaking into the kitchen as I grew older before dawn to have warm buns when they had just started to make breakfast for the whole castle and court. I wouldn't have a clue as to how to make anything from meat," she admitted, her cheeks turning pink as she looked down, feeling a bit embarrassed. She stretched, leaning back a bit, the hammock they sat in swaying slightly. She brought her legs up, and folded them, sticking her knees to her chest, and her little feet stuck out from her ngihtshift.
"it has been such a long day, but I genuinely feel like today has been the best day I have had since before the darkness began to settle in towards the land. I cannot imagine how long you have been alone, and the thought of being alone because of the darkness frightened me, as well as drained my happiness from me," she said softly. She got quiet for a moment, and then abruptly changed the subject, "We could go looking for cotton tomorrow together! That would be something to do, don't you think? Oh, and yes, apples, it is an old trick I was taught back at court when I would bathe."

"Don't worry I'll handle cooking if you want, and ya it sounds like a great idea, certainly better than getting mauled by wolves," he said, his attention once again drawn to her beauty from head to toe. "I'll go take care of the tub," he continued hopping up and running down to the bath chamber. When he arrived he pushed in a wooden plank and the water began draining out of the tub. When the last slurp of the water had finished he stood up an began to head back to the hammocks. When he arrived he got back in the hammock with Rosemary and looked into her beautiful eyes. As he sat there he remembered a custom from his village for whenever guests would stay. "If-if you want," he said nervously, his crooked nose twitching a little,"i could massage your feet, it-its a custom in my village,"

She sat and thought while he went to drain the tub about how much Gryson could do all by himself, and began to feel as if maybe she didn't know very much at all. Of course I know my how to transcribe my books from some languages to others, and my mathematics, and I have learned a bit about geography from my tutors. I had started to learn how to ride a horse a little, I can make some buns and small fruit pies, and know my political behavior and such, but it just seems he knows how to do so many things I never even thought to learn, she thought to herself. When he came back and sat in the hammock, she smiled, and yawned again, not stretching this time for fear of rocking the hammock too much. At his offer, she cocked her head to the side a little bit, her shawl around her hair coming loose and her damp hair falling down some on the right side where it had came loose. "People massage each other's feet? That sounds wonderful, to be honest, I have not had any kind of massage, foot or body, since being back at the castle. I actually rather enjoy foot massages, and admittedly, I wouldn't dream of saying no, so of course, yes please," she said, a small smile creeping onto her face, one of her dimples showing before the other one came into sight as her smile grew. "I just had never heard of that being a custom. I have heard of customs such as Yule-Tide celebratory decor, or traditions where certain festivals happen every year, or even where certain guests got special rooms or gifts upon visiting."
She reached up, tucking the few damp strands of hair back up under her shawl, and tightening where the loosened part had come undone. She lost herself once more for a moment, thinking suddenly about how she had never been in front of a male, human, goblin, elf, dwarf, or any type of male from any race, for that matter, in just her nightshift. She had never spent a full day alone with a male, and how somehow she had become so comfortable in less than a whole day with someone she had just met, and at this recognition, her eyes slowly made their way back to settle into his.

As his heart jumped at the sight of her dimples and he blushed just a tad when she said yes and locked her eyes onto his once more. He shifted to the side and moved her feet into his lap, and picking one of them up began slowly massaging it, starting with the ball of her foot while his other thumb ran facross from her ball to her heel. "I think its just a goblin custom, we had a lot. If you think this one is a little strange, some things were weird to other goblins and were only in my village, we used to all bathe naked together, i once went to another village thinking it was the same there, i got correctly pretty quick on that one," he said chuckling, "The foot massge is more as a courtesy. Basically a while ago the only way to go from village to village was by foot, so as a thank you to visitors you would massage their feet, or if it was a really long walk you would massage their body, my mom ran a hospital so i massaged alot of feet back then, and I'd say i got pretty good at it, but goblin feet are boney and hairy and aren't half as nice as yours," he said, then picked up the second foot as he took in the sight of her. He had seen 'beautiful' goblin girls before, but they were nothing compared to Rosemary, her eyes set on him again as he watched her, he realized she was right, this had been one of the best days of his life.

She slowly sank back into the hammock, relaxing, her cheeks turning a slight pink as he complimented her feet. "I have always been told I have very small, dainty, and soft feet. Thank you," she said softly. She closed her eyes as he rubbed her feet, once again realizing that this was probably the most physical contact other than ballroom dancing and courtly gestures that she had ever had with a male, outside of her father. "Does it get very dark in here at night, and chilly? I hadn't really thought to ask until I noticed it was getting dark outside," she asked, looking towards the opening of the cave, where she could see the night time creeping into the surroundings outside. Then suddenly her mind got hectic, and she panicked, asking, "No wild animals come in here at night do they? What is there to stop them? What if the wolves come, or a bear, or some other wild animal?" She sat up, suddenly afraid. Her eyes widened, as her thoughts continued to circle in her head, her mind making the worst of assumptions out of fear as she imagined the many wild animals out in the forest.

When she bolted up in the hammock he let go of her foot and sat up with her. He wrapped an arm around her in an attempt to soothe her. "No wild animals come on here believe me, I marked my territory," he said with a grin from ear to ear, "it does get a little cold in here though, we don't really have blankets here," he said thinking about his baby blanket in the other room. "If you want we could just share a hammock to keep warm," as he finished talking he thought back to all the cold cold nights he had spent alone, shivering, calling out for someone, anyone to help him. He laid back in the hammock and went back to work on her feet awaiting her answer.

She cocked her head to the side, utterly confused. "You marked your territory? What does that mean?" She looked at the hammocks, and thought for a moment, pondering how they could both fit into one. "Could we tie the two together? It would make more room for us if we were to share. I also have a blanket made from black bear fur, it is in my bag folded up." She thought to herself about the nights over the last almost week, pushed up against trees, wrapped in the blanket, most nights hardly getting more than an hour or two of sleep because of fear. She hopped out of the hammock, and went and grabbed her bag from the bathroom, and came back to the hammock. She stood in front of the hammock, going through her bag, and eventually pulling out a blanket that had been folded several times to make it fit into the bag. She shook it out, it's dark, glossy fur thick and soft to the touch. It was big enough to cover them both, and enough for them to be able to wrap up in comfortably, but would not fit anyone else, so in a sense it was good that there was only the two of them. She took ahold of his wrist, and pulled him up to stand beside her, and wrapped the blanket around them both.
"Now we will have body heat and this blanket to help us stay warm," she said, smiling. The big blanket smelled like the herbs and petals that were used to be strewn around the floors of her room and that were stuffed in her mattress to keep things smelling sweet. The fur itself smelled of lavender, roses, and apple blossoms, and as they stood wrapped up inside of it, the smell stuck to them as their body heat and the heat from the blanket rose quickly.

When she asked about marking his territory he just smiled even wider. "Its best you don't ask," he said. When she went to get the blanket he looked at the other hammock and started wondering how he could tie them together. He could easily tie the ends side by side with three more or so in the middle, as long as it eas tight enough no one should fall out. She came back and pulled out a large blanket and pulled him up mext to her. When she wrapped the blanket around them he could feel the warmth from her body as they were pressed close together. He had shared blankets with people before, but it had always been in a desperate attempt to not freeze, this, this felt different somehow. He began to blush a little as his arm brushed against hers. "I'm-I'm going to put the hammocks together," he said and wriggled out went and untied the other hammock, he grabbed a few spare vines and started tying the two hammocks together. When he was finished he hopped in the hammock and motioned for her to get in beside him.

She shrugged off the marking of the territory, dismissing it from her mind for the time being, since she was so tired. She nodded, as he quickly left from within the blanket with her, but she wondered to herself why he had darted so quickly away. She pulled the blanket about her, standing their quietly, watching him string and tie the two hammocks into one. "When did you learn to do all these things? I did not learn to sew until I was almost 6, and I started to learn to read shortly after I can remember talking. Maybe around the age of four? You do so much with your hands," she observed coolly. When he finished, she watched him hop into the hammock with ease, and as he motioned for her, she walked over, wrapped up in the sweet smelling blanket. When she sat down, the black bear fur softly touched his elbow as she climbed and settled into the hammock, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Do you sleep quietly?"

"Some of them I picked up in the village, most I just taught myself," he said laughing as she watched. When she had gotten into the hammock next to him he layer back and his leg brushed up against hers as he began to settle down for some sleep. "Well I think I sleep quietly," he said with a chuckle, then looked at her curiously, "do you sleep sitting up or are you going to lay down? And if it's okay with you can we share the blanket again?"

"Oh! I sleep laying down too. I don't know of anyone who sleeps sitting upright, do you? Of course we can share the blanket again," she said, and she settled down and lay down beside him, pulling the thick, sweet smelling fur blanket over them. She pulled the blanket up to her top lip, and then closed her eyes. She relaxed quickly, her tension in her body evaporating as she slowly drifted to sleep, small little puffs escaping her mouth under the blanket, which had opened only slightly as she fell asleep.