The Circle

[Riamah]

The cat was not currently in a very good mood. Just finishing up a mission to Beris, it could have been worse. The fact she had needed to wear clothes was a huge deal here. They were always so binding and constricting. So now she was walking around in just her fur now and felt almost like herself again. She just needed a good bath now.

For the mission she had been given various IDs and passes. They were still useful to her and she passed a sign that indicated there was a public bath. She stopped in thought and turned around. In a desperate need of one, this proved to be the perfect opportunity to make use of it.

Getting in the line, she attempted to stand patiently to get let in.

[member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Viviana]

"Hmmm. I do hope they have a cold option. Warm waters have never been my favorite." Stepping up behind [member="Ailuros"] was a large white being. On his chest and arms he wore shining steel that looked cold to the touch and a hammer made of ice. He stood with his arms crossed, peering around the crowd that he was several feet taller then. "They call me Icehammer, but my name is Calder." He smiled as warm as his ursine face would allow. "What brings you here?"

 

[Riamah]

When somebody got into line behind her, Ailuros turned around and looked to see who it was and blinked her eyes. Instead of looking at this person in the eyes, they landed on the middle of his torso and she followed it up. Blinking, he was three feet taller than even she was. Not unexpected in a bear, but a six foot cat was odd to some people.

His attitude and demeanor belied how he looked and he smiled down at her. Clearing her throat slightly, the sudden urge to hack up a hairball came to her. It wasn't great, so she only needed to that and not really hack one up.

"I am Ailuros. And I am in desperate need of a bath. Having been living in armor these past days has just made my fur in a terrible mess."

Holding out a paw to shake, she returned the smile, the tips of her canine teeth showing just slightly.

[member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Viviana]

"A pleasure Ailuros." A massive paw took [member="Ailuros"] 's in its own, and Calder continued to smile. "Yes, I feel the same. It's been a while since I last bathed myself. Not many places have a tub large enough for me." He laughed, rubbing at the back of his head. "Do you know if the bath is hot? I'm not too much a fan of warm waters, and I'd like to know to plan how I should enter the waters."

 

[Riamah]

The way he acted allowed Ailuros to relax and that minor urge to hack up a hairball went away. Tilting her head slightly, one of her ears perked forward and then the other at what he said and asked.

It wasn't something she had thought of.

"This is my first time here. Was actually on my way off, but this bath caught my eye and well I just decided to find out what it is like."

They took a few more steps closer to the entrance as others left the building.

"Sure seems to be popular."

[member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Viviana]

"So we're both new to this. Wonderful, I won't be the only one unsure on what to do." Calder laughed heartily, his deep basy tone seeming to rumble the air around him in the process. "It must be a comfortable setting if people are this interested in it."

Slowly but surely the line would shorten as people went in and others left clearly satisfied with their bath. Finally, it was [member="Ailuros"] turn. The man behind the counter smiled warmly at the cat.

"Hello yes! Welcome to the Bathhouse. How long are you planning to bathe?"

 

[Riamah]

"It'll be interesting. Maybe something to write home about. I wonder if it'll be like being able to swim?"

They would soon find out as the line moved quicker as they got closer. At least it seemed that way. When she got to the front, the man behind counter welcomed her and asked how long she was planning to take on bathing.

"Um as long as it takes!"

It was quite a cheerful ​answer, but the cat had no idea how long she was going to be in there.

[member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Viviana]

"Long enough to get clean? My my, this must be your first time here. I'll give you a deal. Four hours for only eighty credits!" Which, while the guy made it sound like a deal, it wasn't. Still, he seemed genuine enough on the surface. Calder from behind [member="Ailuros"] stepped over and set down more than enough credits for both he and the cat though, smiling down at the cashier.

"Then I shall do the same, if that's no issue." The man gulped at the sight of the giant, but continued to smile and nodded. "Not a problem at all! Just down the hall all the way to the back is a changing room, separated for male and female of course. The bath is just outside there. Grant it, this is a special bath for those of your type. Fur needs a different approach then the smooth skinned folks like myself after all. Enjoy at your leisure! With the amount you given me you're welcome to stay as long as you like, both of you."

He continued to smile and waved the pair onwards to continue with the line. Calder simply bowed his head in thanks before stepping off, though smiling down to the Cat as he stepped by. "I do hope you enjoy your bath. Perhaps we'll see each other when we're done, hmm?"

 

[Riamah]

The cat blinked and her whiskers twitched just a little at the reaction of the guy behind the counter when she answered his question. When Calder stepped forward at her obvious confusion and spoke up for the both of them. He paid for their baths and they were ushered inside. Directions were given and the man turned back to his job at greeting the next customer.

Falling as close as she into step with her new acquaintance and went down the hall with him.

"I'd like that! Thank you."

Ducking into the room labeled for females, she gathered up what washing supplies were offered and went out through the other door.

Not knowing what exactly this place was, she was in a state of surprise when Calder came out of other door in the room.

"Would you look at this? It is amazing."

[member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Viviana]

Calder left all of his belongings in the mens side of the bath house, neatly stacked and hung in a small section. It would certainly be a surprise to anyone who saw them though. A massive set of steel armor with a hammer as cold as ice would make most folks double take. Gathering up the bath supplies they offered he steppes through into the bath.

It was a beautiful place, that was for sure. Made to look like a natural spring even the walls and roof followed those themes, looking more like the surrounding landscape of a spring than an actual building. The Beorni stepped over to the water, idly running a massive paw into it befofe pulling back quickly.

".. too hot." He frowned. Before realizing [member="Ailuros"] was there he began to chill the water. With one hand resting just above the surface he used the spirits around him to cool and chill, forming a slight layer of ice before it meltes and chilled the water little by little. Fonally done he glanced around, only to see the cat standing there.

If bears could blush, he most definitely was.

"O.. Alluros! I did not realize this was a shared bath. I uh, hope colder temperatures don't bother you."

 

[Riamah]

Her tail flipped back and forth as she silently watched Calder lower the heat of the water. She kept quiet though and finished looking around the room.

The setting almost reminded her of Trian with the green and nature theme of it all. Turning her attention back to him, she tilted her head in wonder and wanted to know how he did that.

"I've got fur! It'll be fine."

This was her cheerful response to his words and she walked over to him. Not a hint of embarrassment about this being a shared bath.

"How did you do that?"

[member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Viviana]

Calder began scratching at his chin, glancing around the room in embarrassment. Not because it was a shared bath, but because he hadn't expected anyone else to be around and went out of his way to change the water temperature when someone else could have been using the pool. Though her request did at least cause him to make eye contact.

"Ah, the spirits assisted me. You might know it as the force. I simply asked them to help me to lower the temperature and they did."

 

[Riamah]

"I've spoken to sprits before. Is it like that? Where you call on the aid of one to accomplish something and then they exact a price for it?"

While she had been training with Daxton, he had sent her into a spirit world to meet and speak to three. Soon after her return from that session, he had sent her here. So it was still quite new to her and she was curious to meet another person that could do the same thing.

Dipping a paw into the water, it took her only a moment before she jumped in and sat down.

"It's actually pretty nice and chilled. Doesn't bother me."

[member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Viviana]

"Not exactly. There's no bargain, at least not with the spirits of my people. It's much closer to how a Jedi uses the Force then a shaman speaking with the dead." Calder tilted his head a bit as he contemplated his own words, still scratching at his massive chin. His example was spot on, but he felt something was still missing from it. With a shrug he gave up on trying to figure that out and waded into the water on the opposite side to [member="Ailuros"] . He displaced quite a bit of water, enough for it to overflow a bit which earned a laugh from the ursine being.

"I'm glad it doesn't. Would have been terrible to have to ask for the waters to be turned up. Again you have my apologies for not asking you first."

 

[Riamah]

"I have some training with that too."

No path had called to her yet and Ailuros was still quite young in things. Even if her family would have wanted her to e settled, married and have kittens, she was too curious to do that yet. She hadn't even been kissed ever and so far hadn't met any of her people she would want to settle down with.

Listening to Calder she nodded and pointed a paw in his direction.

"You're at the cold end. This side is slightly warmer. Besides, it didn't look like you had even noticed me when I came in."

 

[Viviana]

"True, I did not. It is difficult to notice the shorter folk such as yourself. I should look down more often." The bear laughed at his own joke as he began lounging in the pool of water. It was a nice change from the subzero waters of his home island on Midvinter.

"So you can use the Force? Interesting. Where do you plan to go?"

 

[Riamah]

She thought she was taller than many people so when he called her short, her ears tilted out to the side and drooped a little. His laughter brought her out of the little sadness though and her ears perked up again.

"You are certainly the tallest person I've met."

Nodding when he asked for confirmation on her ability to use the Force, she considered an answer to his question.

"I don't know. Nothing has spoken to me other than those spirits. I do know sword and body fighting along with some other basic skills. Nothing great though."

Shrugging, Ailuros fell silent.

"What are you?"

[member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Viviana]

"You do seem to be favored by the spirits. They dance around you like the cubs during the spring feast." Calder idly rubbed his jaw now, his gaze looking not at [member="Ailuros"] but what he saw around her. Indeed the various wisps of what Jedi would call the Force were visible to his trained eye, clinging to the cats form in what could only be described as a joyous way. Perhaps it was destined for him to meet her here.

He blinked at her question on what he was, letting out another hearty laugh. "I forget some folks know nothing of my kind. We rarely leave out island, let alone our planet. I am a Beorni, from the planet of Midvinter. Because of this I travel the galaxy to find things my people couldn't dream of and show those who are unable to leave the wonders of our galaxy."

 

[Riamah]

It had not been very long ago that she had learned about the Force so it was still pretty new to her. She honestly still knew more about fighting than any Force skills. Maybe a few things, like telepathy and telekinesis as well as speed. The cat was still very much learning.

Her tail wagged when he spoke of his people and how he was out exploring to tell them about the galaxy. Giving him a very large and toothy grin, enough that her canine teeth were fully exposed Calder could see she was happy.

"My people actually sent me out to do almost the same thing!"

 

[Viviana]

"Indeed? All the better then. I was hoping to accompany you and see how attuned you truly are first hand. Often you don't know what you're doing is unnatural until someone spots it." Calder leaned back deeper into the water, though only just below his furry chest was truly covered. He was a bit too large for the pool it seemed.

"Perhaps you and I could explore the galaxy and its secrets together. I'd enjoy the company myself, especially from one as unique as you."