Sauna
When I wake up, I’m lying in bed and Scarlet is lying next to me.
“Sorry Scarlet, I fell asleep.”
“Don't apologize. Nothing happened. I explained the situation and no one was mad.”
“Really?”
Grinning at me proudly, she answers, “Yep, your big sis handled the situation without any problem!”
“Thanks Scarlet.”
“Kikikiki you’re welcome! Do you want to get up and play?”
“Nope…Right now my muscles are really sore. It feels like I worked out all day.”
“Pfft, that’s because you did, silly. You walked three steps today and you even swam a little!”
“That isn’t anything impressive though.”
“Are you kidding!? That is extremely impressive! Rose, you’re doing things that should be impossible. You are extremely athletic.”
“Really? It’s just walking though.”
“You’re three weeks old! Most dragons can’t even stand up until they’re ten years old. What you’re doing is unheard of!”
“Really?”
“Yes, really really! It’s like if a newborn started walking!”
“That sounds a little creepy…”
“Not at all! You’re super cute and strong and I’m really proud of you!!!”
I’m not sure why, but hearing this makes me feel both really happy and a bit sad.
“Thank you aneka. I’m glad that I met you.”
Scarlet tears up a little and with a bright smile answers, “Yeah, me too,” as she gives me a hug.
We stay like this for a bit until Scarlet asks, “I saw that they have a sauna here. Do you want to go with me? It’s very relaxing!”
“Do they have a mixed sauna?”
“Yep, we’ll have to cover up with towels though.”
“That’s fine. I heard they’re really nice but I’ve never been. I’m sure Sally will love it there.”
“Then let’s go together!”
She then helps me up and we leave the bedroom. Both Rayla and Sher Aka are lying on the floor eating some snacks and drinking.
“Scarlet and I want to go to the sauna, do you want to come with us?”
Rayla sighs, “No thank you, I think I’m heated up enough. I think we were in the baths for too long.”
Sher Aka adds, “You go have fun, we’re just melting on the floor for a bit.”
“How about you, John?”
“Sure, I’ll gladly join. I love saunas.”
Scarlet then leads us to the sauna area, “Hmm, seems like they have three different saunas with differing heat levels. How about we try out the hottest one and if we don’t like it change rooms?”
“Sounds fine with me.”
“Okay.”
We then go inside and the room is mostly full with tough looking men and a few muscly women.
One of the men scoffs, “This place isn’t for kids. You better try the other rooms.”
Scarlet chuckles, “Don't worry, we'll be fine.”
“Suit yourself, you probably won’t last five minutes.”
About five minutes later, I ask, “Are you sure we went in the right room, Scarlet? It’s getting a little chilly in here.”
“When that happens we just need to put a bit more water on the stones.”
Scarlet then puts some water on the stones, causing the muscly guys to visibly sweat a lot more. John at this point is only starting to sweat while Scarlet and I are still dry.
John turns around and gives the tough guy a smile, “Seems like the five minutes are up. The light weights might be tougher than you.”
“Oh please, they don’t even sweat anymore, they’re close to dehydrating,” a bulky Half-Elf counters confidently.
“Wanna bet on it? I’ll give you one regular silver for each one of you that participates and outlasts them.”
“One silver? You rich or something?”
“Nope, I just think you are all bark and no bite.”
“Oh? Big words from a twink, how do we know you’ll pay up?”
“We’re staying in the chrysanthemum room. You’ll find us there.”
“Heh, so you are rich. Fine I’m in.”
All in all John convinces six people to participate in the bet. Over the next ten minutes, Scarlet consistently adds more water to the stones making the room hotter and hotter, causing four of the six participants to drop out. The other two look like they are about to pass out while Scarlet and I haven’t even started to sweat yet. John has already dropped out five minutes ago and is waiting outside the door collecting debts.
“You were right Scarlet, this is nice and relaxing.”
“Right? It’s starting to warm up a little now.”
“Can you put some more water on the stones?”
“Sure!”
Scarlet then pours more water on the stones causing one of the two remaining men to pass out with a thump. He’s then promptly dragged out by John.
“You know what would be nice Scarlet?”
“Hmm?”
“If we could bring the sauna stones to our room so we can have a sauna for us to sleep in.”
“Oh my gosh I totally thought the same thing! The only problem would be that the furniture probably suffers from it.”
“True, we also can’t put water on the stones while we sleep…We’d need some sort of water drip or something.”
“Ooh yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Maybe we could buy some leaky old cauldron and hang it up on top of it.”
“Oooh! That’s smart, it'll be cost efficient too!”
“Right?”
Thump
The last guy has now passed out. John then comes back in and drags him out as well, giving us a thumbs up, “You guys enjoy your stay in here, I’ll go to the middle heat room. It's a bit too steamy in here for me.”
I smile at him and wave, “Alright, see you later John!”
Scarlet and I stay in the sauna for another half hour before deciding to leave. Then, the second we step outside, we start to shiver.
“Sooo cold”
“It’s freezing out here!”
Quickly we hurry back to our room and huddle up under a bunch of blankets for the rest of the day.