Midsummer 14, 6107 RTR (Jan 17, 2008) After digging in the dirt, the Kadies go to take a bath, and run into Silas as well.
(Amelia) (Gunther) (Silas) (Stonebarrow) (Sylvania) (Zahnrad)
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    Hot Springs
    Surrounded by a high wall of planks and tree-trunks, this natural hot spring has been converted into a bathing area lined with decorative rocks and stone benches. The bathes are segregated into three sections, male, female, and common. A shower area is connected to each bathing section. Next to each are changing cabins with shelves for stowing clothes.

There's no way to dig in the dirt without getting dirty. And so after leaving Olivia's cabin for now, the Kadies need to clean up a bit – even Gunther, at Amelia's insistence.

"If you two start snogging, I'll throw up," Gunther warns the pair as they enter the baths. "I suppose you will want to take one of the bath sections for yourselves?"

"I can have Amelia snog you if it would make you feel any better?" Zahnrad offers his brother, nudges Amelia with his elbow, then grins.

"That depends," Amelia tells the younger Kadie, "on if you can be trusted to scrub behind your own ears. Otherwise I'll have to do it for you, like I do with children that I babysit."

"I can wash myself thank you," Gunther huffs, tail puffing out in agitation. And to demonstrate this, he darts off towards the commons bath and leaps in. The intention, of course, to send a nice wave of water at the older Kadies.

"And you wanted him to spend more time with us why… ?" Zahnrad asks just before the water splashes him. Dripping, his brow goes up.

"To keep him out of trouble and… occupied!" Amelia claims, and gestures for Zahn to lead the way – leaving it up to him to choose a separate bath or not.

"Are you afraid he'll do something dangerous?" Zahn asks as he heads towards the men's bath, apparently choosing to be in a separate one from Gunther for the moment. He glances over to his brother … who is apparently playing 'attack the sea monster'. Where his tail is the sea monster that pops up out of the water every so often.

"Take that, you evil otter!" Gunther declares as he gets a hold of his tail, then goes completely underwater. Okay, so maybe it was 'attack the otter'.

"Zahn, he's a Wingnut," Amelia notes, as if that's the only answer really necessary. Once she sees the men's area is empty, she starts shedding her clothes and sorting them by how dirty they are. "Hmmm, should have thought to get some clean clothes first… "

"We can just use the towels and walk home in those," Zahnrad suggests as he strips, "It's not like we're that far, thankfully." His approach to sorting clothing is leaving them in a pile. Instead of just getting into the steaming pool, though, he goes and gathers some things from the storage locker.

"Alright," Amelia says, and checks to see just how much soil Zahn has stuck to him from digging up the trap door.

Plenty, unfortunately. He's leaving a small trail of dirt where he walks. When Zahn returns to Amelia, he's carrying a collection of soaps. "Right, so … uh, I'm going to bathe you," he says. Not terribly smooth in classic Wingnut fashion.

Next door there are more splashes heard as Gunther vibrates around the commons pool.

"I'm nowhere near as dirty as you are though," Amelia notes, but doesn't contest the offer as she walks past and enters the spring.

"Behind the ears, Gunther!" Amy calls out as a reminder.

"That's not the point. I need the practice," Zahnrad says as he follows Amelia into the water. Around him a cloud of milky dirt spreads out in the water. "At least dirt comes out easy. Grease is harder."

"Yeah yeah!" Gunther calls back.

"Practice?" Amy asks, edging away from the spreading ring of dissolved dirt. "You already know how to groom me, what did you need to practice for?"

"In case Parsley expects it too, or something," Zahnrad admits, then dunks under the water and shakes to dislodge most of the dirt. When he comes up, he continues, "Plus, I want to be certain you get most of my attention, anyway."

Amelia smiles at the promise of more attention. "Speaking of getting attention, we'll have to do something about your desire for more snogging too," she says, grinning.

"Heh, uh, well," Zahnrad says as he starts busying himself with opening one of the soap bottles, then lathering up his hands. Sliding in behind Amelia, he starts soaping her back and tail. He's most careful with the tail, drawing his fingers through the long hair like a comb. "So, you know my cabin," he says, "And Lapis. Will we need to make any modifications to accommodate a guest now and then?"

A stream of bubbles suddenly erupts under Amelia, tickling when they roll past. A few seconds later, the same occurs under Zahnrad, and a black roundish thing that looked like a rock at the bottom of the pool at first stretches out into a torpedo shape, zigzags away, and skirts the expanding cloud of dirt and suds.

"Gyah! I didn't do it! I didn't eat any cabbage!" Zahnrad claims when he spots the bubbles.

"Ack!" Amy shouts and nearly jumps out of the water! "If that's you Emmett I am gonna flatten your skull even more than it already is!"

A sleek black head breaks the surface of the water, a few spots of pink dotting the nose… it's an Akwavi, all right. "Haw, sorry! Didn't mean nothin' by it, don't thrash me!" says Silas. Not quite Emmett!

"Hey, wait, wow," Zahnrad says when the identity of their underwater attacker becomes known. "I won the bet! Dieter claimed you wouldn't bathe this year."

Amelia calms down when she sees it's only Silas. "Good grief, Silas, you shouldn't be so reckless at your age," she chides.

"How old is he, anyway?" Zahnrad asks Amelia in whisper.

The Kadie girl just shrugs, and whispers back, "Old enough to be married and have kids by now."

Silas blows his breathe out through his long whiskers. "Pshaw! I bathe every day! Swimmin' in the swamp counts, I reckon." He wags a webbed finger at the Kadies. "Shows what y'all know, anyhow. Akwavis, we gotta keep our pelts clean, or they don't wick water off no more." He drifts on his back now, clasping his paws behind his head. "What're you kids up to, anyhow? Careful nothin', Amy, this is the men's side of the bath!"

"Think if I grabbed him we could soap him? I've never actually seen an Akwavi use soap," Zahnrad whispers to Amelia. "As for what we're up to, we're bathing! What else would two Kadies be doing in a bath?"

"Ever try to hold an otter down?" Amy asks. Then, louder, she says, "We can bathe together! It's not like we're up to anything naughty here."

"No, have you?" Zahn asks.

"Uh-huh, sho' nuff," says the swamp hermit, ruddering himself along with his tail. For all the joking, his pelt gleams, the otter looking like he'd be hard to get a grip on in the water. He sounds the playful skeptic, but relents a bit. "Well, y'did dump a whole mess a dirt in here, grantcha that. So was it mud-wrasslin' before you jumped in, then?"

"No, we were dig- uh… " Amelia starts to say, then falters.

"Digging under a floor to check the structural stability," Zahnrad corrects, "Amelia and I have never wrestled. She'd win, anyway."

Silas curls forward when Amelia pauses, his long neck rising out of the water for a bit. "Hmmmmm?" He settles back when Zahnrad finishes for her, however, looking mildly disappointed. "Oh, that all? Tsch. I coulda tol'ya anyhows… water table's high 'round here, probably rottin' yer timbers right out. Ain't no Oggton never dug a basement, no sir."

"You all live on barges," Amy points out. "How could you even have a basement in the first place?"

"Bah. Not all of the area is dirt. There are rock formations too and natural caverns," Zahnrad counters, "Most of those … " The Kadie then pauses, brow furrowed in thought. "Why, that's brilliant!" he suddenly declares.

Silas points a blunt claw at Amy. "'Zactly!" he says. "Boat's yer best house, guarantee. Though… water's a basement to us anyways." He starts to go on, but stops short, startled a bit by Zahn's outburst.

"Barge basements," Zahnrad says, "Inflatable tubes that can be extended down from the barge with an air pump. Instant extra storage. I should try to build that… "

"Storage for what though?" Amy has to ask. "I mean… Silas wears everything he owns, including his net. Well everything but his boat."

"Fish. Drunken, passed out, otters, uh," Zahnrad reasons. "I mean, if you have space, you find things to store!"

"I'm not sure we want otters looking for stuff to fill up space with," Amelia notes.

The Akwavi looks similarly mystified, though at the mention of more fish storage, he seems a little intrigued. "Fillin' it with air though, yer gonna roll yer boat, though. Iffen y'don't, yer gonna ride real low in the water… we ain't got nothin' but shallows 'round here. Maybe in open water, though."

"Hmm. Hasn't Emmett collected some things of yours?" Zahnrad has to ask Amelia. "I seem to remember him stealing your clothing from clotheslines a lot a year or so ago… "

Silas laughs, and slaps the surface of the pool. "He sure does, got hisself a li'l flagpole set up an'-… " He immediately claps his webbed paws over his mouth.

Amelia just growls a bit. "I'm sure he has a stash of clothes from just about every girl in town by now. Why do you think I never wore underwear?"

"Because you prefer to be free?" Zahnrad offers, "I bet the Wingnuts could build you theft-proof underwear… And ack, that's right, the otters are trying to steal Gunther, too!"

"Oh, they have not! They just appreciate me better than you do," Gunther shouts from the other room.

Silas's brow scrunches up over his beady eyes. "What's this 'bout us stealin' Gunther? You can't give the boy away."

"It's an otter scouts thing," Amelia explains. "Emmett wants him to write a letter to some girl."

"Which is strange. I've never heard of a non-otter otter scout," Zahnrad points out. "Maybe Emmett is trying to expand his girlfriend hunting to the world… "

Silas smiles broadly, whiskers lifting. "Aw, well that's sweet!" They abruptly fall. "Wait, Emmett's involved? Don't know who needs savin' from who, now… "

"It's not like that!" Gunther calls out, "She's some sort of weird inventor that builds … games."

"Olivia says Emmett claimed it was a 'love letter' he had to write to lure the girl down," Amy says, grinning. "I don't recall if there was mention of what sort of girl it was though."

"I am not writing a love letter! Not to some weird woman I've never met!" Gunther claims.

"What about if it was Nene or Bebe?" Zahnrad teases.

"That's different," Gunther grumbles from next door.

The Catfish laughs, and begins paddling himself around in small circles. "Well, s'pose Emmett's got a certain stupid charm 'bout him. Maybe he'll do right by you, Gun."

"Gunther does need help in the charm department," Amelia notes, hopefully quiet enough for Gunther not to overhear.

"Surely he's as charming at I am," Zahnrad asserts, "He is my brother."

"Well, you've had more… exposure… to being liked Zahn," Amy points out.

"By the frightening thumper of the Blacktails, Amelia," Zahnrad teases Amelia as he scoots a bit away from her in the water.

"I have not thumped anyone who didn't deserve it!" Amelia declares.

"That isn't the point. Half the town is still afraid of you," Zahnrad says, grinning. "But I know better. I've seen your softer side."

Amelia immediately covers her chest at the softer side comment. "Oh… you mean my personality, right?" she then asks after blushing.

The Catfish nods agreement. "I's seen it too. Jes' a minute ago, while I was underwater. Anyhow, li'l Gun means well, I figger. He's jes' got some growin' up t'do."

"Right," Zahnrad says, "Especially after you admitted your friendship with Clover."

"This town would have been overrun by a horde years ago if it wasn't for me!" Gunther claims from next door.

"Childhood friendship," Amelia points out, tilting her chin up. "And you're the one that's been soft, Zahn, agreeing to be the twins' cuddle toy. That means you and Emmett will having something in common you know."

"If you were in my position you would have agreed too. They're very convincing," Zahnrad claims and playfully splashes Amelia.

Silas waggles his eyebrows. "Very," he agrees.

"See? They got him too," Zahnrad says and points at Silas.

"Well… you've still got me too, and Emmett can't claim that," Amy says, sinking back into the water.

"I wouldn't trade that for the world … or even a working airship," Zahnrad claims as he glides back over to Amelia. Soaping up his hands again, the Kadie resumes the long-overdue soaping that was interrupted by Silas earlier.

Amelia calms down under the sudsing, and then glances at Silas. "Don't be getting any fantasies now, old man," she warns.

Zahnrad doesn't help with preventing any fantasies when he reaches around Amelia and starts sudsing her front

"Pff. Can't think up nothin' proper lewd 'bout you, Amy," drawls Silas, trying to look indifferent, though Zahn doesn't make it easy. "You'd probably drown in any of the good ones. An' I ain't old, jes' 'cause y'all are kids!"

It almost seems like Zahnrad is taunting Silas with how he's slowly sudsing, then rinsing off Amelia. He even presses up against her back and rests his chin on her shoulder. "How old are you?" Zahn finally asks Silas.

"Drown?" Amy asks. "Does that mean Gunther is going to be in trouble when Nene and Bebe finally want to… "

"Want to what?" Gunther calls out from next door. He's a nosy one.

"Stop being Shrine Maidens," Amy finishes for Gunther's benefit. "Assuming they make it long enough for the dragon ceremony."

"Why wouldn't they?" Gunther calls out. "Isn't it because you're too old that you're not the shrine maiden anymore?"

The otter tugs his whiskers thoughtfully. (Or maybe just to distract himself from the Kadies.) "Well, depends on the Akwavi. Some like the water, some really like the water." He seems a bit reluctant to go into any detail with Gunther on the other side of the wall, and just coughs into his paw. "Anyway, me… why, I'm in my prime, son. Don't think I'm past… " He pauses, forehead wrinkling, and begins counting on his fingers. "Let's see here… "

"This may take a while," Zahn whispers in Amelia's ear.

"I don't mind, it feels nice," Amy replies. Then blinks and whispers, "You meant Silas counting his age, didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah, I did. But … don't mind this taking long, either. And speaking of things, what should I do to make the room Lapi-ready, if Parsley is going to stay now and then?" Zahn asks in whisper, "I don't know anything about Lapi."

Silas is still muttering to himself. His toes have entered the equation.

"Hmmm, remember that they live in chalk-filled holes normally," Amy says. "So I think anything that isn't dusty will be a big improvement to them. You might want to rig up an easy way for Parsley to come and go though, if she can't remember the combination."

"Or we just keep her," Zahnrad suggest jokingly, "Personal Lapi."

As fun as it is, eventually Zahnrad has managed to soap and rinse Amelia off rather well. So, now he glides back a bit from her and starts soaping himself. This isn't done with near the amount of lingering as was with Amelia.

"Nah, she's too busy," Amy points out. "She's up before dawn to milk the Rughrats and stuff."

Gunther peers around the door frame. "What are you doing that's taking so long? Sheesh?" he asks.

Amelia starts washing Zahn's back, and tells Gunther, "Chatting with Silas!"

Silas breaks himself out of his reverie to answer Gunther. "They's jes' making sure their ears are REAL clean." He turns in the water to float upright now. "Well, I can't rightly be sure, but I figger I'm around a good ten years older'n you two, so… plenty young enough!"

"Gah, you're even older than you look, then," Zahnrad retorts to the Akwavi just before he disappears under the water to rinse off. Surfacing, he shakes his head out a bit, then heads towards the pool exit. "I'll get the towels. Gunther, why don't you go adjust the drain pumps a bit to cycle this water faster. Lots of dirt in here."

Amelia climbs out as well, and flicks her tail to shake out some of the water.

Silas lifts himself partway out of the water and spreads his arms. "Get a good look, boy. Y'all gonna wish you looked this good in ten years, guarantee!"

Gunther darts off and Zahnrad walks over to Amelia and hands her one of the towels. "So, uh," he says rather quietly, "Want to go relax back home before we have to go back underground. Maybe uhm, well, you know." Then with a look over Amelia's shoulder towards Silas, Zahnrad comments, "I didn't know the water was that cold to cause such … shrinkage."

"Sure! It'll help us dry off," Amelia whispers to Zahn with a wink.

"Enjoy the water, Silas!" Zahnrad calls out to the otter. He grabs a spare towel and uses that to wrap up his dirty clothing. The wet towel is wrapped around his waist for modesty and he heads towards the exit.

Silas harrumphs! "It's called waterdynamics, boy. It's how we's built. I still got plenty of keel." He settles back again, and waves a webbed paw. "You kids be good, now!"


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GMed by Jared

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