The dormitories stood with three storeys built of bricks painted with the dullest lavender shade. It was on a field crossed by a cobbled path running from open steel gates to the doorway. Its double-hung windows looked as gray as the clouds above. On the walls, brown vines clung to the roughest of the stone surface. At the far back of the building, trees have fallen in line, like an army, as it had been constructed just at the edge of the city.

"Did he really have to teleport me at the gate?" Kirin crossed his arms. "That's like half a kilometer to get there!"

Behind, the portal disintegrated, revealing a six feet tall woman whose emerald-green bob cut hung with the sharpest of edges around her neck. For a minute, she had a glare just as honed. But it promptly dropped as an embarrassed blush took over when hers and Kirin's eyes met.

"Wh-Wh-Who on earth are you?! Where's Chrisholm?!" Her index hesitantly raised. Her eyes went white, and steam and blood oozed out of her nose.

"Sorry!" Kirin scratched his head. "I'm a fairly new member. Just used his portal to get here. Do you live in the dormitories too?"

The woman shivered, swallowed air, then bolted, as quickly as she would have wanted her life saved, as far as she could get from Kirin.

Hey! What the heck was that?

Did Kirin have something disgusting on his face? Was he just that much contemptible? How insulting!

Kirin could absolutely live for more of it!

Maybe he should chase after her to ask? Kirin would have definitely done so had lightning not suddenly zagged and had rumbles not tickled the ground.

Rain was about to come.

Kirin raised his hands over his head and rushed for the doorway.

***

From the entrance... left! There was a staircase just in front of a window letting drizzle blitz in. Kirin rushed up. Upstairs, he tip-toed to a hallway. Onyx had instructed it was the first door to the right. Kirin sneaked towards it, keyed in the hole, and twisted the knob.

Bare was the floor inside. Just wooden planks, no carpet and not even varnished. There was barely any furniture. Four stools hid under a rectangle table, and a fifth just sat outside. Three beds have been fixed up against the wall to the right. Two more were up against the left, where there was also an open doorway leading to a second room housing five tall cabinets beckoning for Kirin to come.

The trap followed.

Held open, the cupboards revealed that only one of them actually had clothes and towels, and the other four were empty.

Kirin closed them back up.

Another door was inviting to the bathroom, and the showerhead inside seemed to have almost hunched forwards to peek and wink at the trap.

Then did seem like a pretty good time to wash. After all, Kirin had already been wet. What with the rain outside.

Besides! Nobody else was home yet.

Nodding to himself, Kirin marched to the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

Finally some time to relax!

***

As the water brushed his hair and caressed his skin, so did it lift away all the stress and exhaustion he had accumulated throughout the day.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Coral Crown stealing quests again? Forgiven.

The long trip back home? Just good memories now.

Getting kicked out of his room? A figment of the past but still stung a little.

For a good ten minutes, he had his eyes closed. Just listening to the whooshing and calming trickles of droplets meeting the rest of the water on the tiles.

When he finally finished, Kirin slid his fingers across his shoulders to gather all his wet hair behind his head, and then reached for the shower's valve.

The whooshing stopped and silence befell with the last drip, leaving Kirin's mind open for any thought to enter.

Suddenly, his heartrate shot up.

He slipped a hand onto his chest, and used another to cup himself below.

Slowly, but more and more, he felt red...

An intense heat grew from deep inside his chest...

More and more... his eyes protruded, sliding to the corners of their sockets.

The bathroom's door grew a devil's grin and fiery mockery burned right on its face, as it asked, "Did you bring clothes? Do you have a towel?"

On a shelf at a corner, Kirin's armor sweat with a few droplets slowly slipping onto his clothes underneath.

Shouldn't Kirin be able to use his shirt to dry himself? What is he supposed to wear then? Oh gosh. He left all of his luggage at the guild, where all his other stuff was. What a dummy! What a--Ugh! Can't dwell on that now. Gotta think of a solution. Soaking the only clothes he has definitely isn't an option. Maybe he should just stay in the bathroom until he's all dried up? That'll be taking hours considering how thick his hair was.

Oh no.

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

He's gonna have to get out there.

How long has it been? About twenty minutes since he's left the guild.

Onyx probably hasn't come home yet.

If Kirin quickly slipped out, grabbed a towel, and then cowered back in the bathroom, everything should be all good.

Right?

Right.

That's the plan!

Kirin went for the door, carefully turned the knob, and pushed just enough for his head to fit so he could peep for any danger.

So far so good.

Quiet. No footsteps, no armor chinking.

Kirin warily went out, one step at a time, like a thief about to steal a towel. He sneaked. Then arriving close enough to the cabinet, he reached for the handle, but froze... when a certain blue figure stepped in front of the doorway to the bedroom.

Onyx was facing the windows. His eyes weren't even looking.

But from the sudden jolt that had just stunned his entire body, it was probably safe to say that he had already seen enough without even looking.

Kirin gulped, opened the cabinet, and pulled out a white towel. He took his time to wrap himself and made sure it had been fastened by inserting the last corner to the top edge. Then as he used his arms to reinforce his cover by wrapping them in front his chest, he screamed so loud that the rain became inaudible very briefly. "Kyaaaaaaa!"

"Don't wait to shout until you're wearing the towel!!!" Onyx barked.

"Why were you so quiet?! Were you waiting for me?! You pervert!!!"

"I'm naturally just not loud, unlike you!!!"

"Knock knock," came thuds from outside the dorm.

Onyx's eyes grew as he glared to his left. He stayed like that for a good minute, then finally got himself together and rushed into the cabinet room. "Here." He picked out a black sweater and underwear, and shoved them onto Kirin's arms. "Wear these." Rushing on his way back out, he grabbed the door and slammed it shut.

"Knock knock!"

"Yes?" Onyx's heavy breathing pierced through the wall, and so did a quick creak.

"Hey!" Faolan's voice greeted, but immediately shifted to a concerned tone. "Are you... okay?"

"Yeah! Wh-What makes you think I'm not?"

"Did you just stut--"

"No!" Onyx boomed.

Silence visited for a bit.

"Hey, umm. What are you... What are you doing here? I thought you were uhh... I thought you were gonna... go back to Vidal's real quick."

"I have. Unfortunately, my room's already been snatched. Seems lots of travelers have been stopping by on their way to the capital. Was wondering if I could also stay here with you guys in the meanwhile? Also, I brought Kirin's bag. Katrina noticed she left it with her pile back there. Where is she?"

Kirin unfastened the towel and used it to rub his hair as though he was trying to start a fire.

"She's uhh... she's..."

"Can I come in...?"

"Oh yeah. Yeah."

"I can't believe I've never actually been here before. Can I..."

"Yeah, yeah. Just leave them there. And yeah, this place might not be the best for you. Aren't you used to living luxurious?"

"I might enjoy it! Feels pretty cozy so far. Mind if I explore?"

"There's really not much to--Hey, hey! Don't go--"

"Uhh."

Silence visited again.

"You're hugging me, Onyx."

"I am."

"Are you sure you're okay...?"

"Yeah."

"Okay."

Kirin thrashed the sweater and brought it as close to his face as possible. "Darn it! It's so black, I can't tell if it's inside out." He hissed.

"We can let go now. This is a little..."

"Oh yeah. Of course. Just don't--"

Quick steps and then a door swinging open shook the dormitories.

Catching Kirin stretch the sweater downwards to cover his unmentionables, Faolan's eyes almost popped out.

Onyx, hand shivering as it grappled onto the back of Faolan's armor, was equally aghast.

Faolan wet his lip and cleared his throat. "Wh-Why didn't you tell me she's...?"

"I said..."

"Knock knock! Anyone home?" came Alia's voice.