Wrong temperature.... (J'ash

[dragon]

Waist deep in the water, L'nu wasn't wearing much. Actually, about all he was wearing was a pair of shorts, his pale shin practically glowing in the dim lighting inside the bathing chambers. Dim ... only because of the steam. There was so much of it, L'nu felt like he needed a set of gills to breathe properly in here. Why were they in here? Because of Paglieth, of course. Otherwise he wouldn't have been here at all.

Next to him in the deep, steaming water, was Paglieth. His dark wings were spread on the water's surface while his legs paddled around in the water underneath. L'nu was trying to wash him and hold him still at the same time, because the little baby blue was having just too much fun swimming in the warm water.

Why in the world the blue had decided the river was too cold to bathe in, L'nu didn't know ... it couldn't possibly be any colder than between which dragons went into all the time, right? Paglieth's argument was that dragons didn't stay there long enough to get a bath, either. So in the end they ended up in the bathing rooms, where there was lots of water, soap, and steam.

"Hold still, you!" L'nu demanded, exasperated by the playful dragonet.

I don't like to swim, mine! It's too much fun! Oh, but it's so cold!!!!! So nice!

"It is not either cold, and you wouldn't think it, watching you splashing around like a sharding shipfish in here. Look at me, I'm soaked!" L'nu answered, chunking the soap cake at Paglieth. It bounced off the blue's back, sailed through the air and landed on the slickly-wet floor beyond the edge of the bath to slide all the way to the doorway.

Paglieth paused and looked at his mindmate with an expression of complete puzzlement. What? I didn't say that.[/color]

[Shiny]

You stink. 'Gee, thanks for the heads up. I'm going to take a bath, so can you stop putting me down, please?''[/i] Somewhat amused by his bonded's exasperated response, the blue-green dragon trotted a bit faster. They'd just entered the bathing room - and found a random bar of soap lying on the ground. It was still wet, but that didn't explain how it had got there. J'ash picked it up, and Craivaruth restrained himself from making a comment about how dearly he needed to use it.

Craivaruth knew that if J'ash did not bathe soon, disgusted staring and commenting would follow. He knew that although J'ash seemed to be able to play something like that off, it would still hurt his feelings. His bonded had been kind enough to oil Craivaruth's hide twice a day. It was his turn to provide J'ash with something relaxing - and something definitely needed. That, and the fact that the dragon wouldn't mind a good steaming for his naturally dull hide.

If there were any people in the bathing room, they went unnoticed. Except for two beings - one dragon and one human - that lounged in one of the pools ahead. J'ash would certainly love the company of others, even if Craivaruth didn't care at all for it. Slowing down, the blue-green dragon inspected the weyrling and his clutchbrother Paglieth for a moment before softly snorting. Hello, clutchbrother. I hope you do not mind sharing with us.[/color] With eyes swirling a weird greenish-yellow, the already somewhat bulky youth dove into the water like a slippery fish.

J'ash caught up with his dragon as he slipped into the water, worried. The newly hatched dragon had never been in water before - how could he just go ahead and dive in? Was it a natural skill for them to have? As if to relieve J'ash's anxiety, Craivaruth's head surfaced, his abnormally long wings helping him float. At least he could float, even if he was still orientating himself about swimming.

Smliing at his fellow classmate - as one could call him, he guessed - he proceeded to slip off his shoes and undo his shirt. He put down the bar of soap on the ledge of the bath. "Hello! Hope you don't mind me joining you. I don't think we've been formally introduced before. I'm J'ash, and this is Craivaruth," the sandy-haired man said, extending his hand out to shake the other's.[/size]

[dragon]

I mind sharing! Paglieth squeaked, happy to see his clutchbrother. I mean ... come right in! It doesn't feel good at all! Nothing better! He flapped his wings in glee, sending water cascading all over the room before it dribbled back off the floor and down into the large, recessed bath.

"AUGH!" L'nu covered his face from the spray, and then frowned at his dragon, but only for a moment before he grinned. The mood was infectious, more so when he was bound to the mind generating it. "You oaf!" He grabbed Paglieth and shoved him under the water in an effort to rinse the dragon's neck and head off. Paglieth got away soon enough, though, resurfacing and paddling over to where Craivaruth was floating.

"Oh, you found my soap." L'nu noticed, wading over to grab the errant chunk of cake. "Thanks." He said, trying to hang onto it with his wet hands as he waded back across the tub. "Go ahead and come on in ... hope you intend to get soaked from head to foot, though." He warned, with a laugh. "I'm Llannu... er... I guess it's L'nu now, but that just sounds so weird to me. And that's Paglieth. The darker blue one, over there." But of course J'ash would know which one was his own dragon, but L'nu was feeling a tad goofy due to his dragon being entirely goofy.

"Er..." L'nu eyed the offered hand, then looked at his own soapy, cake-laden hands, then he grinned apologetically at J'ash. "Nice to meet you?" At just that moment the cake started to slip, and he reflexively grabbed at it, making it shoot out of his hands even faster. Smacking the water, it skipped once before sinking to the bottom. Definitely not a floating soap, that one. "Oh, dear..."

[Shiny]

Craivaruth's eyes watched Paglieth from above the surface, bubbles shooting from his submerged nostrils. His large wings floated flat around him, looking like giant lily pads. His eyes seemed to narrow. It is too bad that you mind my being here. You will just have to learn to share.[/i] As if he hadn't said the wrong thing in the first place, Paglieth had invited him to stay. And I do not know what you are feeling, but it is very pleasant in here... It dawned on him that although the other blue had spoken one thing, his enthusiasm seemed to speak another. Clutchbrother, why are you lying?

J'ash laughed as Paglieth sprayed water everywhere. "I don't mind getting wet at all!" Half naked, the sandy-haired man jumped into the water, his own splash doubling the effects of Paglieth's. He bobbed up and down in the hot water, shaking his now dripping hair free of excess water. "I know what you mean, L'nu," he smirked understandingly, "it's weird to leave out the 'er' part of my name. Then again, I'm not exactly calling out my own name, so it doesn't particularly bother me. Although it has taken a bit of time getting used to people calling me that."

Craivaruth slid silently through the water, only his eyes, headknobs, and wings exposed. With a predatory look about him, the blue-green dove down after the bar of soap. Black and white foreclaws enclosed it, and quicker than it had sunk, it was back at the surface again. Clutching it to his chest, Craivaruth sniffed it. Without a second thought, he snapped it up, razor-sharp baby teeth digging into the solidified creamy substance.

"Eugh!" A horrified squeak came out of J'ash at the sight of his dragon eating the soap bar. It was something people - a whole bunch of people - used to clean themselves with! He quickly kicked off of the side of the bath, reaching Craivaruth in no time. But the little dragonet slithered off near Paglieth, his eyes swirling a contented green. "Come back here!" J'ash declared, trying to swim after his dragon. He'd only really swam once before in his life not too long ago at the Selenita's River. The idea of going into the depths of the river without swimming experience had been his grand idea, and he'd almost drowned because of it, but the ever so handsome (and droolworthy) T'san had saved him. Kalina, who was also there, offered to give him lessons. Although they hadn't had much time to actually do the lessons, he'd picked up a few pointers.

His swimming - no, you couldn't call that swimming, you could call it frantic splash-floating - was definitely not getting him any closer to grabbing that soap bar from Craivaruth's mouth. "Craivaruth!" J'ash spluttered as water lapped against his mouth, "that's not good for you! Spit it out right now!"[/size]

[dragon]

Paglieth grew very still and sad looking when Craivaruth called him on his lying. His wings drifted out around him on the water, in much the same way his clutchbrother's had, as he tried to think of an answer to that ... and put forth enough effort to make it come out of his mind true. Not garbled and backward. I don't mean to. My words get confused. he answered, sadly.

But all that was promptly forgotten when the soapbar came back to surface. Suddenly brightening again, Paglieth swam toward his brother with a few quick kicks. He reached for the soap bar with his own teeth, wanting to taste it, too!

"No you don't!" L'nu protested, trying to jump on his dragon - for the umpteenth time since being bonded to him. It seemed he was always jumping on his dragon to stop him from doing something. Eventually, that was going to stop working, for the blue was growing at dizzying rates that was mind boggling.

Paglieth flapped his wings and shrilled, scooting out of the way of his jumping mind mate, allowing L'nu to do a faceplant in the hot water and flail around until he got his feet back under him again. L'nu, also, was no swimmer. The only reason he was even in the bath was because he could put his feet on the bottom and not have his head underwater. Getting around in the water that was was slow, though. Swimming would be much faster ... if he knew how. It just wasn't a skill he'd picked up, during all his tireless hours at a turntable. Coming upright again, he spluttered and spat water out before wiping futilely at his face with an equally wet hand.

"You, you, you..." He started, trying to quickly wade forward after his dragon. It didn't really work so well, as Paglieth deftly switched around the other side of his two-toned sibling, out of reach, still trying to get the soap bar from Craivaruth. I wanna try!

[Shiny]

Although the scenario was rather amusing, Craivaruth and/or Paglieth would get sick if the soap bar was ingested. This was not good, especially for young dragonets such as themselves.

There wasn't really much either L'nu or J'ash could do about it, though. Clearly, L'nu wasn't much better a swimmer than he was! "Argh," J'ash repeatedly splashed the water's surface with his palms in annoyance, trying to think of how to get that ironically filthy soap bar from his dragon. It would be nigh impossible to coordinate some maneuver with the four-turn-younger male in this relatively large tub, considering that two people who couldn't swim wouldn't be able to move much anyway. He could make himself cry, which would guilt Craivaruth into listening to him. But he didn't want to cry in front of someone he'd just met; that would just be embarrassing. (Mind you, he doesn't think anything is wrong with men crying.) Unless L'nu had any brilliant ideas, they were pretty much screwed.

"Fine! Eat the stupid soap! See how bad it tastes!" J'ash exhaled dramatically with his cheeks puffed out, the air blowing his bangs from his face. He turned to face away from Craivaruth, muttering something along the lines of "don't come crawling to me when...".

The two-toned dragonet snorted happily, his eyes swirling a mischievous green. His piercing gaze snapped back to Paglieth, who was fast approaching. His clutchbrother was making an obvious attempt to take his soap bar. Yes, he was getting along with the Blue, but Craivaruth wasn't the friendliest dragon on the block, that was for sure.

No. Get your own.[/color] He didn't mean to hurt the other dragon's feelings again, but he sure as hell wasn't going to sugar coat anything. The blue-green dragon began to swim, although slightly slower this time due to the extra weight of the soap. It was clear that Paglieth wanted what he had, and the only way to enjoy snacking on it was to be in possession of it. And the only way to be in possession of it was to be away from those who would steal it.

J'ash watched, his eyes slightly widening as an idea came to him. 'If Paglieth chases him around, maybe Craivaruth will forget about us and swim in one of our directions. Then we might be able to get close enough to make a grab for the soap!'[/size]

[dragon]

Paglieth paddled after his clutch brother, persistently. But, it started out my cake! Mine was using it on me! Don't you see? You're taking my cake! He whined, both mentally and audibly as he followed his darker-natured brother around in the water.

Floundering in the water, L'nu couldn't believe what he was hearing. What had J'ash just said. Spitting out a mouthful of water, he managed to get his feet back under him. "Did I just hear you right?? He could get really sick if he ate that! ... well ... certainly bubbly on the inside..." L'nu could not remember if he'd ever eaten soup as a young boy or not. Probably a good thing, considering how stout his momma tended to make her soap. Lye was not a good thing to be trying to eat.

Rose flitted into the room, twirled around the perimeter, and then settled on a towel rack. For one, brief, blissful moment the young gold was blessedly silent. But after that, she opened her mouth, and that was all she wrote. Scream, yell, shriek, scold, it almost sounded like she wanted everyone in the room to drop dead, right then and there.

L'nu rolled his eyes. Great. Just what he needed ... to have to deal with Rose, as well as try to get Paglieth washed, and recover the soap!! Wading to the edge of the bath, he clambered out of the water and snatched up a sandal to throw at her. "Make yourself useful!" he retorted, as she fluttered away from the poorly-aimed missile.

[Shiny]

J'ash winced as the small golden firelizard began to screech her little head off. He quickly glanced at Craivaruth and realization dawned on him. Now was his chance! The malevolent-looking dragon seemed to be distracted by the loud, shiny creature. If he was quick enough, he might just be able to sneak the cake out of his clutches!

Slowly slinking forward with his eyes above the surface, just as Craivaruth was doing, he kicked off of the wall and shot forward like a torpedo that didn't know how to swim (probably because he didn't know how to swim), and reached out like his life depended on it.

His fingers knocked into the slippery soap, and it slid downwards, out of Craivaruth's hold. J'ash quickly took a breath and dove down - another stupid idea, considering he didn't know how to swim. But before he could get very far, Craivaruth's sleek blue-green form swished below him, capturing the prize in his maw like a predator. J'ash put all of his might into swiveling himself underwater, then reached forward.

The young man surfaced, trying to steady himself so he could stand on the bottom of the tub. It was proving difficult to do so, though, with his already somewhat grown dragon in his arms. Water was going everywhere as Craivaruth thrashed in J'ash's arms, the soap still in his mouth. "Quick, L'nu! Get it from him!" he called, nearly losing his balance several times. He wouldn't be able to hold onto his weyrling for long, and only hoped L'nu would be able to get the cake from him before Paglieth did.

[dragon]

At the splashing that was J'ash and Craivaruth fighting over the soap cake, Paglieth happily thrashed through the water as well, reaching for the soap cake with his own teeth, eager to wrest it from his momentarily trapped clutch brother. His cake! He didn't get very far with that idea, however, as L'nu caught Paglieth's tail. Planting both bare feet on the bottom of the tub, L'nu hauled with all his might on the blue's tail, dragging him back away from the other two weyrlings. That only worked for a moment, before the blue realized what was going on. With a 'merp', Paglieth kicked and flapped, sending up even more water. L'nu crunched up his face and squinted in the spray, but also found that Paglieth had more swimming power than he had stopping power. So, taking a random gamble, he yanked his feet up off the bottom without letting go of Paglieth's blue tail.

Paglieth ended up shooting forward further than he intended, bringing L'nu to just the right point in even more spraying water. He grabbed at Craivaruth's jaws, trying to open them and get the soapcake out of his teeth. "Let me have it!!" He squeaked, under the strain - and also slightly afraid for his fingers in the process.

Mine! Paglieth turned around and jumped on L'nu, inadvertantly making the lad practically punch the soap cake out of the other blue's mouth before he sprawled down into the water. Bubbles erupted in a chaotic swirl from him as he yelled the whole way down. He came back up choking and sputtering, as Paglieth kicked his back legs trying to get up out of the tub, front feet scrabbling on the stone of the floor. All the while he whined with his head stretched toward the tooth-gouged soap cake that had slid neatly across the floor. Clomping his jaws shut, the dragon put more effort to getting out of the water, thrashing his tail back and forth in the water.

L'nu jumped at him, despite another cough, wrapping his arms around his dragon's middle, dragging the young dragon back into the water, away from the soap. "No! Soap is not edible at all!! You fool!!"

By this point, Rose realized that the crazy water fight had all been about this one, small, apparently slick vaguely yellow lump of ... something. Falling silent, she tilted her head as she considered the cake that was sitting not to far away. Hopping down off the towel rack, she ambled over it it, pausing it eye it frequently. Reaching it, she sat on her haunches and reached out to grab it with both front feet. To her utter amazement, it slipped right out of her grasp, shooting across the wet floor and back toward the tub. She didn't immediately chase it, instead looking at her now-slimy front feet in a most curious fashion. Wiggling her toes, she looked at the cake again, where it now sat.

With a high cry, she jumped into the air, and zoomed on widespread wings at the cake. Sinking all four sets of talons into it, she blinked between with the cake of soap, leaving the place in utter silence in her wake.

Paglieth slumped, upon seeing it effectively disappear. L'nu gasped, choked, and coughed again, slumping onto his blue's back. Great. Now Rose had it. And Faranth knew what she was gonna do with it. Groaning, he looked over at where J'ash was. "Are you okay?"

[Shiny]

Wide gray eyes had watched the events unfold in surprise, and J'ash had to blink a couple of times to snap himself out of it when L'nu spoke to him. He glanced down at his limbs, which were stinging in some places because of the water. Raised red skin in the form of claw marks decorated his somewhat tanned skin. "Yeah, I'm fine," he grinned at L'nu, not really bothered at all by his "injuries". They would go away in at least a few hours, for most of them hadn't broken the skin. "What about you? I was worried you would drown there for a second."

Craivaruth was at the opposite side of the tub, floating broodily in a corner. Craivaruth ignoring J'ash is now in effect, said dragon announced publicly, his eyes swirling a weird shade of orange.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! I was just doing what was best for you and Paglieth!" J'ash pouted. "If anything, I should be the one ignoring you for putting L'nu and I through such trouble."

The blue-green dragon seemed to sink a little, as if trying to hide. He wanted to keep his pride, but he loved his mine more than anything else, and would do whatever was necessary for J'ash to be happy. Clutchbrother, tell your mine that I am sorry, he announced solemnly, and I apologize to you as well, J'ashmine.

J'ash's bottom lip protruded slightly, sensing Craivaruth's glum mood. He waded over to his and tried to glomp him the best he could in such an aquatic condition. "It's alright, buddy. So much for getting clean, though, huh?" he sighed.

The golden-haired man turned his head to look at L'nu and Paglieth, resting his cheek on the back of Craivaruth's neck. "I don't want to worry you, but do you think that golden firelizard will try to eat the soap? She's much smaller than these guys, so that soap could potentially do a lot more damage to her."

[dragon]

L'nu was silent for a bit, and then he laughed. Pausing for a moment, he spat up some more water. "I thought I was drowning there for a bit, too." He admitted, before falling silent as J'ash seemed to get into an argument with his own dragon. Though, at the rate things were going, today, that wasn't really out of the ordinary. Both of them had been at odds with their dragons... maybe it was this bath. There had to be some reason for it other than sheer cussedness. L'nu waded around Paglieth, and levered himself up onto the edge, where he sat down, shins dangling into the water. Blowing a heavy sigh, he drooped a bit, spine curling forward tiredly.

"Who knew giving a bath was so much work?" He mused, more to himself than anyone else. Paglieth gave him a miserable look, before turning to look at his brother.

I won't. Paglieth responded, meekly, before looking up at L'nu while he floated on the calming water's surface. Craivaruth isn't sorry. He told L'nu, who gave him a very strange look.

"What's he got to be sorry about? You started that mess." L'nu answered, making the young dragon dip his head in shame, snout blowing small craters in the water's surface when he breathed out. "I wouldn't worry about Rose too much ... I don't think she's that stupid. She probably just wanted it cause they wanted it." L'nu gestured at the two blues. "I'll probably find it stashed under my pillow later..." at which point an idea occurred to him out of the blue. Under his pillow.

All of a sudden, he liked Rose a whole lot more than he had before. If no other reason than he could blame her for all the stuff he randomly collected. No one was going to scold a flitter for stealing stuff ... and it would save his hands, for sure. It would make getting rid of the pilfered stuff a lot easier, that was for sure.

"Do you think it's even possible for them to get clean?" L'nu asked. "I mean ... if they want to eat the soap. Maybe we should use sand, instead?"

[Shiny]

J'ash kicked his feet below him while holding onto Craivaruth, who looked as though he would snap at J'ash for putting so much extra weight on him. "Hmm. Well, we could try it. I don't know how Craivaruth's hide will react to it, though. It's really sensitive and needs to be oiled more frequently than a normal hide would," he pondered. "But I suppose it's worth a try. Where would we get sand, though?"

You're the reason we came here. May I remind you that you stink.[/i] Craivaruth snorted, multicolour eyes glaring at Paglieth just because he was something to look at.

J'ash laughed, letting go of his blue-green friend, who greatly appreciated the weight off his back. Craivaruth swam over towards Paglieth, diving just before he reached the dragon, effectively splashing his clutchbrother. He emerged behind the Blue, and began to circle him like a scavenger.

"That's right. I almost forgot that I needed the bath, not him. As my dragon is too keen on reminding me, I stink." J'ash splashed water onto his face and unglued some wet locks of hair out of his eyes. "I'm not going to get more soap, though. Maybe I can use the sand as well!" J'ash exclaimed, fist pumping in the air enthusiastically. "It'll be like a spa day for us! Maybe we can get some mud, too. Apparently that's really good for your skin!" His wintry eyes began to sparkle with such ferocity that it seemed a layer of mystic snow had blanketed the ice.

Here he goes again.[/i][/b] Craivaruth said to Paglieth exasperatedly. Get him excited about something, good luck changing his mind.[/i][/b][/size]