As we walked inside Pieta greeted some of the other members, slowly giving off the feeling that she was friends with everyone. Strangely enough though… They were all expecting me, even if they didn’t know me by name. Before I even stepped foot through the door it seemed like everything was ready for me, like it wasn’t just her home, but mine as well.
One of the girls gave me a set of new clothes and another handed me a key to the room I would be staying in… Not that I even knew where that was. One of them even tried to feed me… But the others scolded her saying I needed to get cleaned up first…
Honestly, I would have preferred the meal first… But they seemed pretty set in their ways. Still, I whispered that to the girl offering it, and she started to beam with joy. It made me happy to see her smiling, after all, she was just trying to help. If one thing was a bit off-putting… It would be how… Bubbly… They all were. Not only was everyone I saw female, but they were all… I don’t know how to say it, extra girly? It felt off, at least to me, who spent most of my time around grizzled old men, half drunk and covered in guts and dirt.
“There certainly are a lot of… Personalities here.” I muttered, still unsure of how exactly I was supposed to act. For perhaps the first time it would actually feel natural for me to act like a girl if I wanted to… But it had been so long that I forgot what that even felt like… Just thinking about starting to act like the rest of them almost made me want to die.
Pieta smiled nervously as if she was embarrassed. “Everybody’s different, right? If you ask me that’s a good thing… Although… You haven’t even met the guys yet…” She led me to the bath which happened to be on the outer edge of the castle, filled by an offshoot of the holly water flowing through.
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen any, are there really so few?”
She chuckled nervously again. “Well… You know… Given the circumstances. Out of consideration, they decided to make themselves scarce… So in other words… They had an excuse to go to the gym and took it.”
“Honestly, that sounds nice… Maybe I should go there instead, training would probably help ease the tension I’m still feeling.” I was speaking casually, but as my eyes drifted to hers a shiver went down my spine as she somehow gave of a look of simultaneous terror and intense threat. “Uh… Pieta?”
She shuddered like a dog shaking off water and quickly returned her face to normal. “No… Trust me, a hot bath and a good meal, that’s the cure for just about everything. Not being in the stinky gym… Although I guess the view isn’t bad if you like muscles, and what girl doesn’t right? Adam would get mad if he caught you staring at anyone though… Kill joy…”
‘Speaking from experience I presume…’ I sighed. “If I disagree are you going start judging me again…”
She cleared her throat with a smile. “What… Of course not… I’m a priestess you know. I educate people. The law-bringers do the judging… Wait what part?”
‘Judging from your previous statement it shouldn’t matter…’ I sighed. “So if I asked you to take me to the gym?”
Somehow her eyes managed to scowl through her smile, scaring me a bit. “I’d decline…”
I moved my hand through my hair again, scratching my itchy scalp and feeling the sore roots cry out as they moved. “Maybe later then,”
She rolled her eyes with a groan. “There's no point in going when the guys aren’t there… I don’t need bigger muscles…”
‘Girl knows what she likes…’ “Pieta… And… I mean this in the nicest way possible…”
“Hm?”
“If I was a guy… You’d make me really uncomfortable…”
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Another mixed look shot across her face faster than a rattlesnake snapping. This time it was a mix of shock and genuine sadness. “I-I know I’m straightforward… But I’m not creepy am I?”
“No… No… Maybe a little…”
Letting out an exasperated heavy sigh, she slid open the door to the changing rooms outside the bath.
With the warmth from the air finally heating up my skin I took off the blanket, only then remembering my leather jacket was unfastened, finally starting to think about the situation I was in… Once again I was reminded of my last conversation with Finn and started to feel uncomfortable in my own skin. After discreetly fastening it again I at least felt better, but it made me ancy for a fight to come along so I could clear my head. ‘Yeah… I’d be super uncomfortable around her…’ “Think about it this way… Uh… You're a priest, so you grow herbs right? Imagine if there was a guy that didn’t grow herbs, and had no business being in the herb garden, but he just still went there all the time and stared at you.”
“That would be so romantic. Oh, does this guy also like to bring me flowers and chocolate? Maybe he helps me water the plants? Or just does it for me, that would be even better.”
‘Like I sad… Full of personalities…’ “Well… It would make me really uncomfortable…”
“Oh I get it, you're just shy. There's nothing wrong with that. Especially around strangers, but everyone in the guild knows each other you know?”
“Not really… I’ve never been in a guild…”
“All the more reason you need a hot bath, instead of being around a bunch of strange men.” She smiled as she slid the door open to the bath outside to show me, nearly taking my breath away once again. To say it was exotic felt somehow like an understatement. The water glimmered with a pure golden color as soft steam rose up from the smooth stone-lined area. It was decorated with beautiful amber details and ornate cross designs that spanned the marble walls and the large fountain in the center.
As if I wasn’t nervous enough already, the bath was open-air, which while beautiful, certainly didn’t help. It really felt like I didn’t belong… If anything it felt like I should stay away in order to keep the bath clean instead of dirty it… Which made me then feel stupid for how contradictory that was.
“Is everything alright?” Pieta asked, her voice only making me tense up even more, reminding me I wasn’t alone. By the time I turned around, I could see her already wrapped in a towel and having changed out of her clothes, which once again, didn’t exactly help the matter…
“Uhm… How do I put this… I’m having a lot of… Feelings, right now… And I really don’t want to take my clothes off…” ‘much less take a bath with another person… I don’t even want to see myself naked right now…’ “So, you know, go on ahead. I’ll just wait for you outside.”
She tilted her head with a slight look of concern. “Sorry, I guess I thought you just wouldn’t want to be alone, but if you would rather be by yourself that’s fine too.”
‘That’s not what I said at all…’ “No that's fine, you’re already undressed, and I’d honestly rather not change clothes either. I’ve always felt safer with my armor on… Although I guess it’s kind of silly to think I’d need it here.” ‘Yeah… I don’t need a bath, I didn’t even do that much work today.’
Her look only grew more worried until Posy suddenly walked into the room behind us with a loud growl. “You need a bath. I can see the cuts on your wrists, they need to be cleaned, and from what I heard your hip probably needs to be looked at again too… You’re worse than Finn!” Suddenly I was nervous in a completely different way. “Now. You can go take one by yourself, or I can strip you here and drag you with me.”
I felt a chill creep across the hot air. “Is… Is neither an option? You know, actually… I think I could probably take you in a fight. If it came down to it...”
Pieta stepped between us spreading her arms as if defending me. “Posy, go easy on her, you should be more sensitive to things like this.”
“Pieta, put your clothes back on. You’re not supposed to bathe until you finish your chores, and on the way here I saw pretty clearly that you hadn’t tended to the garden yet.”
“Uh… Well I was just…”
“Using Chika as an excuse to get out of chores and socialize?”
Her whole body stiffened. “Ok, fine, that’s fair. But you should still be more sensitive about how you treat patients… My master is efficient, and sometimes seen as cruel, but even she is caring and sensitive when it comes to things like this.”
I couldn’t say I had a clear understanding of why they were even fighting, but regardless of the reason it seemed rather pointless. ‘She’s naked, and probably no good in a fight… Why is she standing in front of me instead of behind me? Has she lost it?’
Posy stepped in and closed the door behind her, only making Pieta stiffen up even more, starting to look like a scared puppy, shaking in fear of a thunderstorm.
“I get what you’re saying, but sometimes the best thing for the patient is to force them to do what’s best for them. I’m not going to let someone's wound fester because treatment hurts…”
Posy took a calm step closer but her eyes looked deadly. Pieta must have felt the same because her shaking turned to tremors. “This is completely different and you know it!” She shouted, her towel slowly slipping off and falling to the floor.
Everybody paused for a moment, but if I had to guess I would have said I was the only one who truly felt embarrassed… At least, I was the only one that looked away…
“Twenty-seven,” Posy said calmly after her eyes rapidly counted something again.
Pieta let out an uncomfortable groan. “What did you count this time?”
“You had twenty-seven freckles I had never seen before.”
Pieta’s whole body suddenly turned bright red as she slowly picked up her towel again. As hard as it was to watch, it admittedly made me feel better that I wasn’t the only one embarrassed anymore.
“I’m going to go do my chores now…” She muttered, caving in relatively quickly for how stoically she was standing her ground just a moment ago.
‘Well that’s one down, I wonder how she’s going to try and crack me? I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on me, much less strip me by herself.’ I widened my stance, slightly bending my knees and crossing my arms. ‘This could be interesting.’