Hot Spring Relaxation
Opening my eyes, I look at Scarlet who smiles at me and says, “Good morning, Rose.”
“Huh? Did I fall asleep?”
“Only for a bit. We’re planning to go into the hot spring together, do you want to join?”
“Sure, that sounds good.”
Looking towards the other room, Scarlet yells, “Rose and I will join too!”
We then walk over to the main room where everyone’s sitting around the empty dinner table.
Sher Aka speaks up, “So, I just wanted to ask before we go in if all of you are comfortable with bathing together. I know mixed bathing isn’t really a practice in the north so if you feel uncomfortable with that we can go in shifts.”
John answers, “I don’t really mind. We all eat and sleep together anyways so it’s not that much different.”
Rayla adds, “I don’t think I’d be comfortable with it if it were strangers but as long as it’s just John and oki I don’t care.”
“Uhm as for me I don’t mind.”
Scarlet answers, “I prefer being naked anyways. Clothes are restraining.”
“Alright, it’s decided then.” Sher Aka says as she gets undressed, “Let’s rinse ourselves inside and then go outside for the bath.”
We then do so and quickly run through the cold to our outdoor hot spring.
While everyone else gets in normally, Scarlet spreads her wings and jumps into it yelling “Splash ahead!” and starts swimming around.
Sher Aka lets out a deep sigh, “And this is a perfect example of what not to do if you want to enter the public baths…”
“Well, at least she serves as some kind of example…” John adds, rolling his eyes.
“I just wish there was an indent for tails or something like that,” Rayla sighs, leaning over the edge of the hot spring while her tails flow towards the middle like fluffy snakes.
“But it does feel really relaxing, right ane?”
“Yeah…Like slowly melting away in a hot pot…”
John triumphantly says, “And you know what goes great with hot pot? Some alcohol! I brought two bottles and some glasses.”
“Kekeke, perhaps I didn't give you enough credit John. What a genius idea!”
Giddily, John starts passing around glasses of alcohol to Sher Aka and Rayla and right after hands Scarlet and me a glass of juice.
“Woah, they have juice in winter?”
“Apparently yeah, I asked if they have anything for minors and they gave me this.”
“Hmm…Am I going to be an adult in two years or in hundreds of years?”
“Good question, I have no idea.”
Putting her arm around my head and hugging me close, Scarlet answers almost offended, “Obviously Rose is only three weeks old. So it will take about four to five hundred years.”
“By the way, Scarlet, how old are you?” I ask her.
“Me? I’m 328.”
“Woah…So you’re almost as old as Sher Aka.”
“I guess, it’s not really that comparable though. Compared to me she’s probably already a hag.”
Sher Aka indignantly answers, “Excuse me!?”
In response, Scarlet swims over to her, pulls on her eye and sticks out her tongue.
Not wanting this to escalate I pull Scarlet back towards me by the tail, “Uhm, Scarlet, could you please not be mean to Sher Aka? She’s a good friend of mine.”
She looks at me a bit flustered, “Oh! Uhm, it was just friendly banter!”
“But you two aren’t friends yet, so isn’t it just banter?”
“Ah…Well…My apologies, Sher Aka.”
Sher Aka sighs, “It’s fine.”
Rayla then puts her arm around me, “Pfft, you’re basically a dragon tamer now oki. Look at how quickly you made her behave, haha.”
“Are you my tamer then, ane?”
“Pfft, I guess I am, haha.”
Scarlet visibly gets angry and says, “Look, I might have been rude but this is going overboard. How dare you bring up ‘dragon taming’ so lightly?”
“Huh? Sorry, did I say something bad?”
“Tsk You don’t seem to know so I’ll explain it to you. ‘Dragon taming’ is nothing other than snatching eggs and raising them like pets. They take advantage of our strong bonding instincts and pass us down their lineage until we’re ‘useful enough to work’ where they then put us in exhibition matches or send us into battle where we either die on the battlefield or get killed after getting too intelligent or big. They even have ‘breeding clubs' where they do unspeakable things to try to get more ‘docile’ dragon eggs.”
“I-I didn’t know. I’m sorry, I always just thought dragon tamers would find abandoned eggs and raise them like family.”
“Yeah, that’s what they say so it doesn’t count as chattel slavery. Just don’t ever say something like you’re her tamer ever again.”
“Okay, sorry. I won’t.”
There is a bit of an awkward silence before John says, “Is it just me or is this bath suddenly feeling a little cold?”
I cog my head, “You think so? If you want I can ask Sally to make it a little hotter.”
“Oh no…I was speaking figuratively.”
Scarlet asks, “Who is Sally?”
“Oh they’re my friend. Sally is a Salamandra fire spirit.”
“Wait, can you see spirits, Rose?”
“Yeah, I’m a spirit mage.”
“That’s amazing Rose! I didn’t know you were a priestess! No wonder Ifrit likes you!”
“Oh I’m not a priest or anything but I can see and talk with spirits.”
“Still that’s amazing! I hear they’re really beautiful.”
I look at Sally swimming around the pool and say, “Yeah, they are, haha. You know, when we went through the mountains I heard them sing and dance a lot during blizzards!”
“Really!? Can you tell me more!?”
I tell Scarlet and by extension everyone else about my experiences with Spirits so far which seems to lighten the mood again. We then all cheers to this vacation and enjoy our bath.
Later I feel Rayla poke at my cheek, “Oki, wakey wakey, we’re going back inside.”
“Huh? Wait…Did I fall asleep again?”
“Yep, this place really seems to relax you, huh?”
“I…I guess?”