Yarro finally jolted awake, drenched in sweat, gasping for breath and with a throat as dry as the desert. The blankets he were using last night had been kicked halfway off. A familiar couch. A familiar ceiling. A familiar scent. He took a deep breath once he realized where he was and rubbed his eyes. Yarro waited a few moments for his heart to stop pounding in his ears before sitting up. That’s when he realized it was quiet, and with a quick glance around from where he was sitting he saw the house was empty.
Yarro stood up and stretched with a long groan. The house was bathed in daylight and he finally had a better chance to look around. He was only gone for a few months, so nothing had actually completely changed. His mother was always a bit sentimental, so it wasn't surprising.
On the ground floor was the gathering room, with the kitchen and his mother’s room in the back. In front of the front door was a flight of stairs that led to 2 more bedrooms. A quick look upstairs showed that they moved Luneo to his own room once Yarro moved out. Luneo’s room was filled with drawings of birds and a various collection of bird feathers. And although he knew he shouldn’t, a quick peek in Mela’s room showed there were even more herbs and potions than when he left, if that was possible.
As Yarro came back down the stairs, the front door opened. His mother walked in, leaning on her cane in one hand and another with a basket of food. Behind her, Mela and Luneo followed with more food. “Yarro, you’re awake!” his mother exclaimed. She limped to the stairs but didn’t go up. Instead simply held out her free arm and waited for a hug, a soft smile played on her lips.
“Hi, mom,” Yarro said, with a grin as wide as his face. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gave her a big squeeze of a hug. It was comforting to get one from his mother after so long. Especially after the nightmare. He could feel like he could finally relax. “I was wondering where everyone went.”
Once free, she smacked his ankle with her cane. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming over! The city has run away with rumors of something awful happening in Dawic and yet not a peep out of you! You know how worried I was about sending you to Dawic.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’ve had a busy few days.” Yarro held his arm out for support, which she took to lean on, and guided her to the couch.
“Too busy to let your own mother know you’re ok?” She hmphed. There it is. He’ll never hear the end of it. Though he still smiled at the familiarity. Mela and Luneo sniggered from the kitchen.
Yarro spent the rest of the morning eating a hot, homecooked meal, and catching the family up with what happened in Dawic. And against his judgment and oath of silence, he let them know of what the Deities’ mission for him was. Though they were just as confused as him by what was meant by corruption. In the middle of this heated debate, a knock came at the door. Luneo went to answer it while everyone stared.
The door opened to Kael standing quite awkwardly out front. Yarro could see from his chair he had on the same clothes from yesterday, only without the armor, and a bag at his side. Yarro found himself relaxing from the tension he didn’t even realize he held when he heard the knock. “Um, is Yarro awake?” Kael said. He looked a bit nervous from someone that wasn't him answering the door.
Yarro went over, having decided to give him a hand. “Yeah, I’m here.” Luneo walked away from the door with an eyebrow raised but Yarro ignored him. “I didn’t realize you wanted to leave so early?”
Kael held up his bag. “Well, I figured we've had a few stinky days without some hot water, so I brought over some soap and some fresh clothes. Do you want to go to the bathhouse with me?”
“Oh! I think that’s a fantastic idea,” Yarro’s mother said rather loudly. “I didn’t want to say anything Yarro, but you really do need one.”
Yarro, now self conscious, took a whiff of his pits and immediately scrunched up his nose. “Yeah, I should join you. Let me just put on my shoes. Lun can I borrow some of your clothes?”
Luneo sighed but agreed. "You were going to take them anyways. But fine. I want them back though."
The closest public bathhouse was about a 15 minute walk north west, closer to the castle. The bathhouse was directly under an aqueduct. A rather large building, and with multiple columns that decorated the front of the building after going up a tall number of stairs. The sounds of rushing water could be heard from a few blocks away, and got louder to a roar as they approached the building.
Inside, the building was built in marble and red silks. Marble columns 2 stories tall with a glass ceiling. A second floor overlooked the foyer, with stairs on the right. A woman stood behind a desk front and center, in front of a decorative wall of falling water. Seemed like a waste of perfectly good water to him. To the left and right of the desk were archways the led down hallways with ceramic tiled floors and walls with well lit candles.
Yarro had been here a few times so he knew where to go. “Hi. A private room please.” They paid for a private room and gained a key to the room. They were locked for privacy reasons.
“Thank you. Have a relaxing bath.” The woman said as she handed over a key with the number 107. She quickly bowed to them as they headed to the left side. Room 107 was near the end of the hallway, which opened up to a rather large public pool of steaming water. Back this way was rather humid from the steam coming from the pool. Yarro could spot a few people already relaxing in it.
Inside their room, past a short rounded hallway for privacy’s sake, was an initial room where a person would undress and place their items in wooden crates. It was tiled mint green, same as the hallway. Hangers were also provided for clothes that couldn’t be placed in the boxes, but Yarro didn’t care. It all stunk anyways.
He could hear the tub being filled from a hole in the wall. Freshly boiled water was put in after each use for private rooms. It was the reason Yarro preferred this bathhouse over all the others. He could feel when the water wasn't clean, and this business always used clean water. It was well worth the money.
Yarro paused when he got down to his underwear and glanced at Kael. He was already butt naked and rather meticulously putting away his clothes. It was a rather nice butt. Yarro quickly shook his head at the thoughts and continued to ready for the bath.
Both of them, now completely naked, rounded the corner to be greeted with a hot pool of steaming water. Next to the pool was a small pile of towels. Kael brought over his bag. He pulled out a couple of soap bars. “I got…Lavender, but that’s mine.” He placed the lavender soap bar to the side. “Rose. A couple of different fruits: Apple, strawberries, cherry. Some cinnamon.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Yarro crouched down with him. He desperately kept his eyes trained on the soap, instead of the very interesting exposed body next to him. “Lots of different kinds.” He picked up the cinnamon and gave it a sniff. It had a very strong scent, but he liked it more for that, especially since it was nothing quite as sweet like the others. “This one smells nice.”
Kael gave him a pat on the back. “Good choice. Cinnamon is a second favorite of mine.” Yarro felt strangely proud, though he didn’t know why when it was just a soap choice. Kael pushed the rest of the bag to the side.
“What else is in there?” Yarro asked.
“Just some brushes, combs, creams, cologne.” Kael rummaged through the bag for a moment to confirm its contents. “Just the usual.”
Yarro nodded and groaned as he slipped into the murky white water. Once again in his element. It felt perfectly hot. He felt all his aches and pains melt away. The good kind of pain. Small amounts of steam rose to his face and cleared his nose. He grabbed his hair and attempted to pull it into a full bun on top of his head, to keep the braids from getting wet.
Kael had to first dip his foot in the water. He tanked his foot back the second it touched the hot water. "That's too hot! Yarro, how could you stand it?" Apparently it was too hot for him. Eventually he dunked his entire body and head under the water. When he came up to the surface he pushed the hair back away from his face. Then he stretched and leaned against the edge of the pool.
"Water feels perfectly fine to me," Yarro said.
Yarro tried watching in a nonchalant way that didn’t make him look like he was staring. He noticed for the first time that Kael had a light amount of chest hair. The staring failed, however, and Kael caught him. They both quickly looked away. He tried to come up with a subject of conversation that would draw his thoughts away from his quickly heating body. “So, you mentioned that you went to the Midsummer Ball before?” he asked.
“I have, as part of my position in the military. It’s a bit entertaining, as long as you have no stakes in it. Watching those Capes throw themselves at the council or even the Queen. Most of the time it doesn’t work and it ends up being hilarious to watch them get charismatically beat down.”
Yarro laughed. “It certainly doesn’t seem like the Queen would appreciate the sort of flattery the Capes would give her.”
“No, she really doesn’t. If she doesn’t particularly care for them, she’ll thank them politely, and then walk away. Just like that.” Laughter echoed off the walls as Yarro conjured an image of the Queen walking away in the middle of a conversation.
"So, are there any special rules for this Midsummer Ball?" Yarro asked.
Kael was quiet for a moment. "Well, the Queen and her husband always have the first dance, after a speech. You can get some drinks, but not much else. We might need to dance right after them though. Since your the Queen's honored guest, and part of a religious quest from the Deities, you don't have to bow to anyone when they come up to you, they'll bow to you. Also, food will be served in a separate hall."
"Alright. And what's worn at the Ball? I’ve never been and don’t have anything for the occasion.”
Kael thought for a moment. “Why don't I take you somewhere? There’s actually a really nice boutique shop just off the main road in the center of the city. Called Villie’s Vestments. Not too far from Nightingale’s, actually.” If it was close to that night bar, then it must be as fancy as that. That area was the better part of the city, especially since it was close enough to the castle.
Kael had stretched out his entire body by now. Yarro watched it drift up to the surface, but not completely. Just barely enough towards the surface for his shadow to appear, but not enough to reveal anything. Yarro tried to hide his disappointment.
“You’ll have to show me the way. I don’t think I’ve heard of it,” he said.
“Sure. If we go after we’re done in the castle, she should have something whipped up in time for the Ball.”
The two of them sat in silence for a while after, simply relaxing in the hot bath. Yarro’s thoughts drifted to Dawic. Even in a serene place like this one he was unable to avoid his fears and anxiety. How he should have stayed. How he could have gotten a few people out. Yarro was ready to give his life to protect that town. It was his duty. Why didn’t he just disobey the mayor’s orders and stay to protect the town? It was the whole reason he was there.
"Are you still thinking about Dawic?" Kael broke the silence. Yarro opened his eyes to see Kael watching him, eyebrows furrowed and full of concern.
Yarro sighed. "They trusted me, Kael. They trusted me to protect them and I didn't. Now I don't know how many are dead."
"You don't seriously expect to have been able to beat the Master Earth Elemental?"
"Maybe I couldn't defeat it, but I still could have helped with the evacuation. I could have rescued those stuck in destroyed homes. I could have even distracted it long enough for the kids to escape, instead of letting them hide in a hole and getting crushed to death."
Once Yarro began to lather in soap, Kael followed in silence. In a way, Yarro appreciated the silence. He knew Kael was giving him space. It gave him time to process what had happened, though he didn’t think he would ever be over Dawic. Even if they did find the town and it returned to normal. Yarro would still think about what he could have done differently back then. It was something he would carry with him for a long, long time.
"Kael, can I tell you a secret?"
"Of course," he said.
"My father left my mom before I was even born. I hated him for that. Still do. How could he leave a pregnant woman like that?" He sighed, but forced himself to continue. "My mom found another guy a couple of years later, but he only stuck around long enough to give her 2 more kids. She worked so hard for us. She gave this city everything, and the only thing they gave her back was a limp. Kael... what if Dawic hates me the same way I hate my fathers?"
"Yarro. What you went through was a shit situation, but they're not the same. No one will blame you for getting help. You can't save people or protect them if you're also in danger."
"I... Thanks, Kael. You always know the right words to comfort me." They both smiled at each other and continued on in silence. He wasn't sure how much he believed Kael's words, but they were comforting, at least.
Kael wrapped a towel around his waist and began to dig through his bag while Yarro also left the tub. After a moment, he pulled out a razor and some shaving cream. “Oh. There’s no mirrors?” he asked. He wandered around the room to make sure he didn’t miss any, but there wasn’t even a small one.
“I’ll do it, if you want.” Yarro said as he put on a tunic shirt and tucked it into some loose brown pants. “You want it completely clean?”
Kael nodded as Yarro took the tools from him. They moved to the edge of the tub, and Kael filled a small bucket for water. Once they were situated as comfy as they could get, Yarro rolled up his sleeves, spread some of the shaving cream on his hands. A shiver ran down Kael’s spine as the cool material touched his face. Yarro grinned, pleased with the reaction.
Slowly and thoroughly Yarro lathered Kael's face. He could feel a good amount of stubble on Kael’s cheeks, and a few of the longer strands under the chin. Although Yarro wasn’t looking at Kael, he could still feel Kael watching him. He gulped, and wiped his hands once he was sure Kael was properly covered in shaving cream.
He felt Kael’s eyes follow him as he put down the towel and picked up the shaver. Yarro had never shaved another person before. He concentrated on steadying his hands, though perhaps he was nervous for another reason. “Should I have warned you that I’ve never done this before?” he asked. Yarro scooted himself a little closer, and Kael instinctively leaned in. He could smell his breath, and though not horrifying, it was neither fresh.
Yarro started from his right, and worked his way left. He kept his fingers light against Kael’s skin. Too afraid to touch it for some reason. Afraid he might mess up or put too much pressure. At some point Kael closed his eyes, his entire body relaxed and slouched. Once Yarro noticed this, he couldn’t help but continue to look up at the rest of his face. When it came to under the chin, Yarro was careful to use a hooked finger to gently position his head facing up and continue shaving.
Once done, Yarro let out a huge sigh he didn’t know he was holding. Not a single nick, thankfully. “Whew! All done,” he said. Yarro grabbed a smaller towel and wet it. Kael opened his eyes just in time to see a hot towel thrown over his face and rubbed him clean. After which they continued to get dressed.