Gunther won the race to the baths easily, since unlike Parsley he wasn't limited to walkways, stairs or ladders. On the other hand, however, he didn't pick up any soap or towels or other supplies, but that's the sort of stuff is "girls' work" anyway and the doe will probably bring it.

"Ahahaha!" cackles Gunther as he bolts into the Men's section of the hot springs. The Kadie doesn't even look, he leaps into the air and canonballs himself into the water with a huge splash!

The spring isn't empty, as Gunther hears, "Oi, that ain't no splash!" This is followed by an even bigger splash as Emmett Oggton leaps from the central rock for his own cannonball.

"What do you know?" Gunther retorts at the otter. No one ever said Gunther was logical; an otter will know more about water than a Kadie, after all!

"I know I had to run to the reeds after lunch," Emmett notes, waggling his eyebrows at the Kadie. "That goes to your Prank'n Badge, but yer original mission is still unfinished!"

"Run to the reeds?" Gunther is compelled to ask. "And if you mean the whole letter thing … I'm working on it!"

"I mean makin' the rat barf!" Emmett barks. "And… oh yeah, the letter too. Where wuz I? Oh, roit! Where're the girls?"

"Oh yeah, him. He's hiding somewhere!" Gunther complains. "If you mean Nene and Bebe, they're off with a dragon. Getting all flirty with it or something." That last bit comes with a scowl.

"Wut?" Emmett asks, actually a little flummoxed. "Ooo-errr… the river dragons? They graduated to Shrine Maidens today?" he asks next. In the changing area, Parsley can be heard clucking over the clothes strewn all over the floor instead of being folded and put in the cubby-holes.

"Right those things. They're nasty and will mess you up," Gunther complains even more. "One nearly killed me. Parsley knows all about it."

"She used to be a Shrine Maiden too," Emmett says, putting an around the Kadie's shoulders and hugging him close, so he can whisper, "They're all innit – secret society, witches, dancin' in the noood."

"Emmett, what are you doing to Gunther?" Parsley asks, finally entering the spring with a bucket of soap and brushes. She obviously isn't concerned about Emmett seeing her naked.

"Bet you like that," Gunther accuses the otter quietly and crosses his arms over his chest as he eyes the overtly-friendly otter. "Probably spy on them!"

"I spy on ev'ryone, it's my job," Emmett claims, and instinctively ducks a brush thrown by Parsley. "I know all the town secrets."

Gunther manages to duck from under Emmett's arm. "Bet you don't know Parsley knows how to fix dragon wounds!" the Kadie claims. "Right, Parsley?"

"Oh… Emmett knows most of my secrets too," the doe admits, getting into the water and pulling Gunther into her lap so she can lather up his head.

Gunther settles into Parsley's lap and for a moment even looks smug as he sticks his tongue out at Emmett! "I bet you don't know anything about dragons," he challenges Emmett.

"I know 'bout the one that attacked the town, back when we Oggtons first 'rived here," the otter claims, floating on his back.

"Hah, what one was that? Something tiny?" Gunther asks.

"Nah, was a biggun, so says Granny," Emmett says. "But the witch stopped it cold, like. Put it to sleep somehow, or sumthin, and buried it."

"Don't fill his head with stories like that," Parsley chides. "You know he'll go digging around looking for it."

Gunther blinks. "Buried it? Where?" the Kadie asks as he perks up in Parsley's lap as if right on cue.

The Lapi smacks Gunther's head with her ears, saying, "Sit still!"

Gunther acks! "Hey!" he complains.

"Oh, that's a secret," Emmett notes, making water squirt up by clenching his fists. "Only the witches know."

"I thought you knew all the secrets," Gunther points out. "You don't know this one?"

"It's long dead, if it ever really existed," Parsley claims. "Nothing can 'sleep' for seventy years, unless it's undead or something."

"Oi, I said I knew the secrets, not the details," Emmett says.

"Some help you are!" Gunther complains. "It's not like Isolde is going to tell me where it is."

"Well, stuff was all chaotic back then," Emmett notes. "But digging a hole big enough for a dragon… sounds like something Wingnuts would do, eh?"

"That is … ohhhh, hm. Seventy years ago?" Gunther asks and gets one of those scary looks; the kind that hints at he is plotting something.

"I hear you guys have all sorts of underground stuff," Emmett says, lounging on the central rock now. Before he notices Gunther's look, Parsley upends a bucket of water on top of the Kadie to rinse him off.

"Ackpth!" Gunther complains and flails his arms as he's soaked once more. Well, never mind that he was already wet to begin with.

"Stand still, Gunther, or… " Parsley warns, and then starts tickling the Kadie's sides while his arms are up.

Gunther acks again and starts laughing! "Okay, okay, I'll hold still on one condition!" he claims.

"What's that?" the doe asks, relenting on her attack.

Gunther gets a sly look in his eyes. "I wanna kiss," he claims.

"From me?" Parsley asks, head tilted. "Or from Emmett?"

"You! Good grief, I don't want Emmett to kiss me!" Gunther says, aghast.

The otter puckers up, then looks disappointed!

"Okay," Parsley says, and turns Gunther's head so she can kiss him right on the lips.

Gunther blinks a few times and feels funny. The Kadie then actually closes his eyes and puckers his lips.

Parsley is one of the best kissers in Stonebarrow, according to the lines at the Kissing Booth on festival days, and she proves it again for Gunther. Finally she breaks the lip-lock, and asks, "So, you're going to behave now?"

"Blurgah," Gunther says very intelligently. Another few blinks and the Kadie finally nods and speaks proper words when he says, "Yes, okay. I'll hold still."

After resetting the Kadie in her lap, Parsley reaches around and attacks his throat and shoulders with the soap and brush, while Emmett watches enviously. "Parsley'll make you grow up fast, kiddo!" he says cheerfully.

"I … don't think I mind," Gunther admits and looks extremely confused about it. "She's comfortable for some reason I can't explain right now… "

"That's Parsley, comfort'n in every way and place!" Emmett agrees with a rapid bobbing of his head. "In the kitchen, the bedroom, the bath… " he starts to rattle off, then has to dive under to avoid another thrown brush.

Gunther can't help but laugh when Emmett has to duck. "She almost got you that time," he says with a grin.

"I miss on purpose," Parsley claims. "You aren't being suckered by all that nonsense about a buried dragon, right? That's as crazy as… " she starts to say, and then stops in thought for a moment.

"I can't say until I look through the old records," Gunther says, "Just, you know, to prove it is a silly story… "

"Records?" the doe asks, snapping out of her daze, and going back to scrubbing the Kadie's back. "Oh, right! Yeah, that should be safe. I mean, a witch couldn't put a dragon's spirit into a Creen or something. That's silly. And it's afraid to go outside anyway… "

"Who, what? Creen?" Gunther says, looking confused again. "I thought it was buried."

"Right, buried," Parsley says. "Lots of stuff buried around here, after all. Plenty of room for a dragon, I suppose."

Emmett slides up out of the water right next to Gunther and Parsley, and says, "Oh-ho! I know whatcher thinking, oh comfy one! That'd be right i-ron-ical, that would."

"So … what was that about a Creen?" Gunther asks and leans back to look up. The Kadie then gives Emmett an odd look too. "What do you mean? What am I thinking?"

Emmett makes a show of looking into Gunther's ear, then shakes his head and shrugs. "Not you, Parsley!" he notes with a grin. "She goes up ta the castle all the time to visit Clover. She's prolly encountered the monster already."

Parsley tries to distract Gunther by scrubbing low near his tail a little harder than necessary.

"The monster? Well, yes. Clover is a monster," Gunther agrees. "Or, wait, do you mean the weird pet of the crazy doctor? The screaming Creen?"

Of course the rubbing low near his tail starts making the Kadie's legs twitch.

Emmett just taps his nose and winks, while Parsley bites Gunther's ear (lightly) for calling her sister a monster.

"Ow, hey! That … kinda felt good," Gunther says. "Why did I say ow? I think that dragon messed up my head."

"You like that? Nene and Bebe are champs at chewin' on stuff," Emmett claims. "Just put some salt or butter on a spot and they'll go nuts!"

"I am not food! I don't need assault and buttery," Gunther retorts and tries to splash water on Emmett!

"Clover isn't a monster," Parsley tells Gunther. "She's my twin. We are exactly alike you know." Emmett shakes his head wildly when Parsley makes that claim however.

"You two are very different," Gunther says. "Clover has never been nice to me."

The problem with getting into a water fight with an otter is that an otter tail is much thicker and heavier than a Kadie tail. Both Gunther and Parsley are quickly drenched again, saving the doe having to use the bucket for rinsing.

"Well, have you ever been nice to her?" Parsley asks, after pushing the hair out of her eyes. She's out of throwing brushes though.

Gunther sputters, then sighs. He looks like a soggy rat (almost) sitting in Parsley's lap. "I'm nice to everyone," he claims.

Even Emmett has to gape at this statement, which makes him just a bit too slow to dodge Parsley's bucket, which swallows his head and knocks him back into the water.

"What? It's true! I protect the town. That's being nice, isn't it?" Gunther asks.

"Uh, hmmm," Parsley goes, trying to find the right words. "Jumping at out people and pointing weapons at them isn't normally thought of as nice, Gunther."

"Why not?" Gunther asks.

"The otters like it!" Gunther claims.

"Well, that's because the Akwavi are all crazy," Parsley points out. "In a charming fashion. People are afraid of you though, Gunther. They worry you'll hurt someone."

"When have I ever hurt someone?" Gunther asks. His tone is actually quite honest and sincere about it.

"Well, you haven't yet," Parsley admits. "But you could put someone's eye out with your pointed sticks and stuff if you aren't careful. There's also the spying… "

"Not wrong wi' spying!" Emmett pipes up from inside the bucket.

"So? The otters spy on everything! Ask Emmett! I'm not allowed to?" Gunther asks.

"Well, I guess it's more the way you go about it," Parsley says, hugging the Kadie from behind. "With the disguises, and stalking. It makes people jumpy. Emmett spies out in the open. Like the lazy loaf that he is."

"I'm nonchalant," the Akwavi-bucket claims.

"I just take it all seriously," Gunther claims, "That's important, right?"

"Well, I suppose," Parsley says, sounding unsure.

Emmett does not comment this time, as he's got his feet on the rim of the bucket to try and push it free of his face.

Gunther nods slowly. "But maybe I can be a little less … serious about it if it would make people feel better?" he offers.

"Just… try not to scare people?" Parsley offers. "You're really clever, I mean – you could do clever stuff, instead of looking for invading hordes all the time."

"But … the hordes need to be stopped!" Gunther insists. "These lands are ours. We have to protect them!"

"But there haven't been any hordes since the Akwavi," Parsley points out. "And those zombies."

POP goes the bucket, and Emmett straightens out his whiskers. "Oi! You lot were a horde too once, yeah? Kadies and Lapis, invadin' the place and hording out the 'riginal folks 'cept fer the Skeeks."

"Because we have been vigilant! What happens if we quit keeping watch?" Gunther asks. He's sounding a bit deflated, though.

"Keeping watch doesn't mean accosting every visitor though," Parsley says. "They aren't all advance scouts for invaders."

"Dunno about that Jack feller though, he's suspicious," Emmett says.

"See?!" Gunther says and waves at Emmett.

"The Otter Scouts watch too, and the Militia, and the Witches," Parsley notes. "You don't have to try and do it all yourself. You should do other things too."

"Like finding that dragon," Emmett suggests. "Can you just see it? Riding it into the fountain square, big as you please, barfing and bellowing and whatnot! People'd buy tickets to see that."

"But I don't have anything else to do," Gunther admits. "It isn't like I have friends to do stuff with. No one really likes me."

"Hey, I like you, and Nene and Bebe like you," Parsley points out. "And you could use the extra time to… well… make friends."

"You do? I thought you just tolerated me," Gunther admits, "And helped fix things I messed up. Like … earlier."

"Parsley likes everyone," Emmett says. "Even me, right?" he asks, cozying up to the bunny, who does give him a kiss on the cheek before stuffing the bar of soap into his mouth.

Gunther laughs, "So, hm. If I find that dragon it can protect the town and that would give me more free time," he rationalizes. "Maybe Nene or Bebe would want to do more stuff with me then."

Emmett is too busy blowing soap bubbles to comment, but Parsley says, "They like you for who you are, Gunther, so you don't really need to impress them. And… uh… well, what sort of stuff do you want to do with them?"

"I don't know," Gunther admits, "I just … feel all weird around them sometimes. Light-headed and fuzzy."

"Oh? Well, I'm sure they'll figure out what to do with you then soon enough," Parsley notes, and then pushes the Kadie off her lap into the water with a giggle.

Gunther acks and goes under the water with a bloop! He comes up sputtering and flailing his arms. "What do you mean by that?" he asks.

"You'll find out," Parsley says smugly, and goes to get the towels. Emmett is having too much fun with the soap so she lets him keep it.

"But … is it good things?" Gunther calls out after the Lapi. Boy does he look confused.

"They're otters," Parsley points out, while holding up a towel. "Everything they do is fun."

"Even with a Kadie?" Gunther asks as he clambers out of the water. He snatches the towel and starts drying himself off.

"Have you ever not had fun with them?" the doe asks, as she starts fluffing dry her own fur.

"Well, uhm," Gunther says. "I'm not sure? I can't think of a time I haven't had fun."

"Well, there you go! Now what do you want for lunch?" Parsley asks.

"Fresh fruit rolled in nuts and caramel," Gunther announces as he continues to dry off. His fur ends up sticking out at odd angles and in clumps.

"Okay, brush out your fur and I'll make the caramel," the rabbit says. Left out, Emmett seems interested in the lunch as well – but has gotten his teeth stuck in the soap.

"Oh come over here," Gunther tells Emmett and points to the edge of the water. The Kadie then quickly goes to grab a brush to brush himself out with.

The otter twists and squirms and pantomimes dying in excruciating pain, finally dragging himself to the Kadie's feet.

Gunther sticks the brush in his fur so that it hangs there and kneels down so he's closer to eye-level with Emmett. He reaches over and pries the otter's jaws open a bit wider, then yanks the bar of soap out!

The bar is followed by a fragrant belch and a cloud of bubbles that hit Gunther right in the face!

"Ew!" Gunther complains as he rolls backwards and rubs his face violently! After a few sneezes he finally sits up and starts brushing out his fur. "Do Nene and Bebe really like me?" he asks Emmett.

"Sure, I bet you're their favorite toy!" Emmett claims with a sudsy grin.

"Toy? I'm just a toy?" Gunther asks. "I thought I was like, their friend."

"Same thing!" Emmett says. "Do they ask you if they look pretty?"

"Why would they have to ask?" Gunther asks, "They are pretty."

"And they smell good! Even if it is a bit musky now," Gunther adds.

"The whole shrine maiden … thing," Gunther adds to his add.

"Oi, then they probably like ya," Emmett notes.

"Smell indicates like?" Gunther asks.

"Err, no… but they kept you around during that," the Akwavi notes, and snorts a bubble out of his nose. "I bet they've been in your cabin and not stolen anything either!"

"Of course not! My traps would have caught them if they stole something," Gunther claims and even puffs up his chest. "And uhm, do you like me? I mean, you think I'm okay, right?"

"Yer like a little brother!" Emmett says. "You even got that Akwavi-skin-suit-thingy for swimmin' with."

"Yeah! That was fun to make, even! Makes me wish I had webbed hands and feet, they help lots in the water," Gunther babbles. "My body isn't built so well for water."

"But you can fly through the trees and stuff, and be lickety-fast in the verticular directions," Emmett notes.

"Too fast," Parsley notes. "Have you ever tried to catch Kiona Silverfoot when she's gotten loose?"

"Okay, well, yes I can do that," Gunther has to admit. "I guess that's something. I just don't fit in as well with them!"

"Fit in as well as who, Gunther?" Parsley asks.

"The other Kadies," Gunther says.

"Hah! I ain't seed a Kadie yet that fit in with other Kadies!" Emmett barks out.

"Zahn fits with Amy," Gunther points out. "and they makes lots of noise some nights, too!"

"Well… they compliment one another," Parsley suggests. "Kadies are very independent you know, so it's hard for them to relate to one another outside of family at times."

"Come to think of it, you and Zahn make noise sometimes," Gunther accuses Parsley. The Kadie then seems to shrug it off and finish brushing out his fur.

"Kadies are naturally noisy is all," Parsley claims.

"I'm not!" Gunther claims.

"Oh no?" Emmett says. "I heard you got caught bouncing around with the twins in yer cabin, making a big ruckus."

"That was different! They were examining my bed and stuff!" Gunther explains. "It's hard to be quiet in a bed."

Emmett barks with laughter, and Parsley just rubs her cheek with one hand. "Well… let's get that lunch, okay? I think Emmett is a bad influence for you to be hanging around."

"What? Bouncing off a bed makes noise," Gunther says, looking confused again. He wraps the towel around his waist finally and says, "Okay, let's get lunch."

"After we get dressed," Parsley says, pointing to the cubby holding Gunther's neatly folded clothes.

So … Gunther bounds over to his own clothing and quickly pulls them all on! He fiddles with his pants for a bit and hrms, "Seems tighter than I remember. Oh well, I must have over-fluffed." On goes his shirt and the Kadie grins. "Ready!"

"Probably that," Parsley says, while Emmett rolls around in laughter still. She finishes dressing and holds out her hand for Gunther.

"Have you ever noticed that Emmett sure laughs a lot? I think he has been hit in the head too many times," Gunther says as he follows Parsley out of the bath area. "Maybe that's an otter game; hit Emmett in the head… "