at end of day, we find ourselves

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

The cave entrance was warm, slightly cinnamon scented, and rolled back into a long corridor lined with phosphorescent lichen clustered in groups that lit the murky surroundings with a soft blue illumination. The atmosphere was damp, but not uncomfortably so, and Arha had padded its winding corridors for the few minutes it took to find the warm swirl of mineral infused water. Water. And not cool water, either. She blinked as she crouched at the edge of the pool and tentatively dipped her fingertips into it.

It was hot.

Not hot enough to burn, but definitely hot enough to soak tension from a body. Her eyebrows arched slightly. Something like this was an interesting interpretation of the phrase I should like a place to ease sore muscles. She had been training hard recently and it showed, of that she was sure. Her calves and her back ached, but it was a pleasant thing that told her she was doing well and she reveled in each day's training session be they mind or body or both. And now, she regarded the pool with curiosity.

"And just how," she murmured, her voice echoing, "shall I go about this, hmm?"

Was she supposed to relax in the vapors or actually disrobe and soak within the water itself? Such things did not have directions, after all. The air was thick with the scent of minerals--she could pick them out if she cared to do so--so, it was always a possibility that one was supposed to inhale them. Truly, this was a curious thing and required thought.

Comments

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"You get in it," Luly says from behind Arha, her eyes half-lidded. She was drawn by the smell, by the soft glimmer of the cave light—though her self-assuredness in navigating in the dim light and only half-worked stone suggests some senses beyond the merely human. "The natural salts are supposed to be healthy for you."

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"Are they?" Arha asked peering at the woman for a long moment. "Does one take off their garments and just...sit in the water?"

The concept was foreign in itself and for all the knowledge she possessed thanks to Other Memory, it still remained a strange thing. She only had a few ancestors who were waterfat enough to have been vaguely knowledgeable about such matters, but the bulk of her memories she could access were decidedly desert oriented.

Arha glanced down at the water, which was now rippling as she wiggled her fingers, and made a soft hmm sound that was more hum than anything else.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara had been looking for a place to relax after some heavy training that day. When she wandered into the Sensorium, she hadn't expected to see a spa like this one, much less one occupied by several women already. She definitely knew one of them: Meluly, the only woman she knew that could actually make her blush-and the other looked like she might know Sheena.

"Hey guys!" She said eagerly, smiling. 'Would anyone mind if I tested it first? If its a little uncomfortable, I'm willing to lower the temperature!"

With that, and far too achy to wait for the answer she threw her clothing off and jumped in, and a moment later steam floated from the pool.

"Oh, that's good," Katara sighed. "You guys should get in too!"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Meluly bites her lip a moment. It looks so inviting...

She sides up to the water and shimmies out of her makeshift red dress-wrap. In the long moment that she's bare, before she starts to slide into the water (and stops, and starts, and stops, and starts again, face twinging somewhere between pain and happiness at the wet heat), the white tracework tattoos that wrap around and across her whole body are visible. If they were done the traditional way, it must have taken quite a long time—and probably a whole lot of long-lasting, dull pain.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara notices Meluly's cringing and is there in a minute, ignoring the rising heat for being so next to the woman. Why was she in pain? She really had to start trying to understand every one's physiology as soon as she could...

"Meluly? Are you alright?" She asked, looking concerned. "Is the water too hot for you?"

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"Ah," Arha said, watching with interest as Katara and then Meluly sank into the water. It seemed pleasing to them, even if Meluly seemed to have issues with it in a cyclical fashion. The positive side was that it harmed neither of them.

With a grave expression, she peeled her plantsuit from her and folded it as neatly as possible before sliding into the water herself. The heat was great, but not so much so that it was painful. If that had been the case, Arha would have adjusted her own body temperature...or asked Katara to fix it. Her gift was a handy thing to have, it seemed.

"Are you both well?" she inquired after she had cautiously submerged up to her neck. So far it was true that she had not been drowned by this water, of this she was grateful.

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine," Luly objects, and her eyes close as she slides into the water to her neck, and then to her chin. "I just haven't had a good soak in a while. I'm all stiff." Her tense face starts to slowly relax.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Oh...all right," Katara said, looking down and feeling a little silly. Of course Meluly was okay. She really needed to stop overreacting.

As if to make up for this, Katara breathed out and more steam was added to their water: it was slight hotter, but Katara had also made sure not to increase it by much.

"That should be good," she said. "So, uh, did you guys just decide to do this randomly, or have you been building up sore muscles like I have?"

Because really, training was pretty thorough.

[demonicgene.livejournal.com]

"Go about what?"

Kazuya realized that most would see this as intrusion, but quite frankly, he had stopped caring about that sort of thing long ago. Now, he was only interested in one thing. Not what most men would be interested in either. Kazuya could sense... something but he couldn't quite place.

This warranted investigation.

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"I wish to relieve soreness, thus this place was created," Arha said quietly, turning her blue-within-blue eyes on a man she had not yet met. She blinked at him for a moment, then flashed a smile. "I am uncertain if I should be outside the water or get in. It could be the vapor that is replenishing or the water itself. I do not know. Such a thing is not of the world I am am from."

[demonicgene.livejournal.com]

Kazuya simply arched an eyebrow and leaned on a wall, taking note of those odd eyes. Not that he had much room to talk, given his single faintly glowing crimson eye.

"Most would get in," he said rather matter-of-factly. The idea that he was implying that she should disrobe and enter the water wasn't even close to making the top 100 things on his mind.

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"Would they?" Arha asked, tilting her chin in slight curiosity. "Water is something to be guarded on my world. We do not generally walk into it and it is never hot such as this. If I am to take full advantage of this thing, then I suppose I shall have to adhere to these soaking rules." It was not a huge deal, at any rate and it did make a bit of sense considering that skin was apt to soaking nutrients up.

"I do not believe I have met you properly yet," she said in a quiet voice, her eyes fixed on his and unwavering. "I am Arha."

[demonicgene.livejournal.com]

"Where I am from, over 90% of the world is covered in water." This woman was certainly mesmerizing in a way. His intentions remained true enough, but the way she held herself belied that hidden something that seemed to resonate with Kazuya's mind. He truly had never felt anything like it.

"Kazuya Mishima."

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"I have only desert to my name," she said, methodically stripping down and folding the plantsuit into a neat square before slipping into the water. She drifted to the other side and returned her attention to him.

"I am pleased to meet you, Kazuya Mishima," Arha said, smoothly rolling through his name as if tasting the unfamiliar words. Lots of vowels. Interesting sound. "I cannot imagine a world that is that much water. Such a thing would make one of my world unaccountably water-rich."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

Luke had wandered in, wondering if this was another simulation like Obi-Wan's cave, but soon realized his folly. He'd followed Arha's presence here, wanting to see how his friend was doing after their emotional talk on the ziggurat.

"Hey Arha," he called out, his voice echoing a little--then stopped. Of course he would find her quite obviously preparing to take a bath. Turning pink, Luke turned round quickly.

"Sorry, I'll come back when you're done!"

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"I have not taken anything off," Arha grumbled in his direction before sitting cross-legged beside the pool of hot water. "And it is not as if I am naked, though these suits certainly leave next to nothing to one's imagination. I accept no apology for there was no offense."

She mentally nudged him gently.

"I am...unsure of how this is to work anyway."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"What, the hot spring?" Luke wandered back over, still fading back to his normal skin color from embarrassed pink, and sat beside her. "Nothing to it, just, um, take off your clothes and get in. Not when I'm here, I mean. Unless you want me to, I mean." He put his toes in and felt the warmth through the plantsuit, smiling a bit. "It does feel nice though."

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"I would not mind the company if you wish to stay," Arha said, her smile soft. Truth be told, his company was always welcome, no matter the situation, that was as evident as the nose on her face. "There is much effort in getting oneself out of this suit, but I would not like to bake it. From what I can infer, the process seems to indicate that one ought to soak the minerals in with one's skin, though it sounds a bit dubious to me."

She leaned to poke a forefinger at the water once more and watched it slide in droplets down into her palm.

"The heat is good," she said after a moment. "I suppose it is more than decent for unknotting tight muscles."

[restoresbalance.livejournal.com]

"It's supposed to be good for your skin. I haven't had much time for more than a quick spin through the refresher for years." Luke kept his mind studiously off the thought of bathing naked with Arha. She wasn't his, and he wasn't hers, and he didn't want to cause tension for his friends and for Mara.

"Has Obi-Wan been training you hard, then?"

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"I should press him harder if he was not," Arha said with a soft laugh. "He is exacting and I am pleased with my own progress. I enjoy the lightsaber practice greatly. Possibly more than my own crysknives, though I have a worm who might protest a little at such a thing."

Her lips pursed as she contemplated his words and absently licked the water away. It was vaguely metallic in tang.

"I do not know what this refresher is, but perhaps a soaking in this pool would not be a terrible thing for you, now. One should do things like this every so often if only to ease discomfort. We are but brief creatures as it is."

[hunters-luck.livejournal.com]

Steam was waved away with a lazy gesture. She'd been over doing it in her training, using the corridors of the ship as her personal training center. The sensorium had it's place, but there was something to be said for getting out and moving in something that was more than an illusion.

Mara had paused at the Sensorium, thinking that something relaxing and possibly meditation was in order when she felt a familiar presence. Similar to the minds of the Jedi, but just different enough to easily be picked from a crowd.

It had never truly been awkward between them, and the smuggler moved through the steam to find the other redhead. "Ease in if you're not used to it."

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"Wholly not used to such a thing," Arha said, her tone wry. "I suppose attempting to peel off this suit is a necessity for this...pool. I do not know why such a thing could not be made easier to take off." She leaned back to peer at Mara upside down and flashed a welcoming grin.

"I am pleased to see you well," she murmured, working to find the right seam with a slight huff of annoyance. "I was not sure what to make of this at all, but the heat would do well to loosen the knots I have accumulated over the course of my recent training. Obi-Wan is a good teacher and I do not take my learning lightly."

[hunters-luck.livejournal.com]

"A hot soak after training does wonders to keep you moving the next day." Mara stretched her arms over her head, feeling her own muscles pull and protest. She probably shouldn't have pushed her body that hard, but there wasn't much else to do in this place but think, and that was not something she felt quite ready to deal with.

"Do you need your privacy?" Different cultures had different views on nudity and bathing. Mara didn't particularly care herself, and if she did leave, she'd probably just be copying the idea in the next room.

[ladyofthesands.livejournal.com]

"I do not," Arha said with a soft laugh. "Privacy is never needed when you find company pleasant. In the Sietch, much was communal and I have never possessed much in the way of modesty as it is. One takes the value of not being alone highly when near a decade of life was spent in relative isolation. You are most welcome to join--ah! I found it!--me."

With the seam located, Arha made quick work of stripping down, then paused to take a moment to fold her suit into a neat square before sitting at the edge of the pool for a long moment before slipping into the water. She was still cautious when it came to pools and open expanses of water like this. It helped that the rock was just warm enough to be inviting, too. Arha found that the rock itself functioned as a bench and eased herself down against it.

The heat was good.

[hunters-luck.livejournal.com]

"You don't have much privacy on long shipment runs, either." Mara was already working on her own suit, also working to find that elusive seam. They weren't the friendliest of outfits to take off, but she did manage. Her clothing was draped over a rock. Her long hair was pulled up and secured so it wouldn't hang down into the water, and her lightsaber was kept within reach, even here.

There was a soft hiss when Mara slid into the water. "This is a luxury I could get used to indulging in."