Amongst rising steam and the faint smell of flowers, Cinder stood unamused. A queasy sickness delved in her stomach, rot by the frigid chill made Cinder wince. Her body, too ailed from the heavy wounds she had endured, just now beginning to wain from adrenalin. The red quilt she had liberated from the bed was clutched around the still sopping wet woman. She held the thick fabric tight, forming a wrapping around her whole form save for the ball of black that composed her hair. The amber eye was drawn thin, obscured behind the veil of her mop-like hair, the black curls covering much of her face. "No." The Fall Maiden declared with a bickering hiss, her teeth remaining bared for a moment after the word licked from her lips. Laughter met her in response, the voice echoey and voluminous in the constrained washroom. "Cin," Cinder grumbled further at the use of a bastardization of her name by this stranger, Lili. A dusty hand rummaged over the faucet as Lila continued, "You have to wash if you're going to stay here." The laughing tone which met Cinder only made her snivelling glower worsen.
Hunched in the blanket, Cinder watched through the steam as water billowed into the brazen tub. "I. Am. Not.-" She emphasized with the swinging of her head, though in doing so, her hair condition worsened. The sudden flop forward by an even greater wave of black tendrils drew an audible giggle from across the room. Another red glow began to form on Cinder before letting her flesh hand escape from her confines to press the hair away from her good side. "I am not using your bath, woman." Cinder hissed out, her neck craning to emphasize the movement. Had she any strength remaining in her Cinder would have simply been done with this woman and her damnable courtesy. The low born glare had little effect on Lila; instead of cowering or seeking to make amends as most others would have, she merely continued to prep the bath. "Right, super scary, you can use the bath. Really, I don't mind." Turning from the tub to a small cabinet, Lila carried on as Cinder's growl turned to a confused muttering. "N-no... That's not what I?-" The Maiden tried to peter out, her flesh hand raised meekly in objection. Lila turned back from the cabinet, holding two bottles, "Would you rather Rose bubbles or Lavender?" Looking from bottle to bottle, Cinder's expression twisted into confusion. "Uhh… Lavender, hate roses." Lila nodded at Cinder's response with another one of those sickly sweet smiles Cinder despised.
As Lila poured the purple liquid into the cauldron of steam, she began to talk again. "Right, I'll go change and put soup on," Lila capped the soap and deposited it back away. "You just strip down and hop in for a bit." The woman made to clear the room, though Cinder only turned with her moving form. "What part of not taking a-." Cinder tried, her voice once more mimicking her mocking persona. Lila drew to a stop at the door, one hand on the heavy wooden door while the other pointed at Cinder, a determined expression ingrained onto her. "You. Bath. I'll make food, then we can rest." The modest woman's tone was explosive, commanding even. The blurting 'as it is' tone shot Cinder's tongue right to the back of her throat. It remaining there right up until Lila had vacated and slammed the door behind her. The cracking boom was followed by a muffled, "Sorry! It's heavy!"
Alone in the steam-filled room, Cinder let loose a heavy sneeze. A dribble of snot rushed down her nose. "Maybe a bath wouldn't be... "Cinder unsheathed her quilted attire and turned to the quite steamed mirror. Her eye descended over the red gown, a sad pour-over at that, "So bad… Oh… Drat." Sadly, Cinder pouted and approached the fogged mirror. The red gown, its golden lacing, hell even her golden accessories, all of them were completely ruined. Her good hand delicately traced her hip, unpinning her brooch. Frowning heavily as she looked over the frayed, waterlogged feathers. The piece would need more than a once-over by the Maiden. Placing the piece down, Cinder went about undoing the various clasps and buckles that held the dress together. Pain and soreness rung through her, bending and angling to undo some of the additional components at her leg remained unbearable, to say the least. Each little clip coming undone was a victory for Cinder; a small whispering "Yes!" came with each clip undone.
Finally, pulling the long red gown from her, the article was a struggle for the tired muscles in Cinder's arm to lift. Though, of course, it was of no difficulty to hand over to the monstrous limb at her other side. Cinder sighed, finally acknowledging the black-skinned limb. Cinder sighed with an almost cursing quality to the limb, checking it over as she moved to the tub. There was still much she didn't quite understand about the arm. It acted in a state of matter unlike much of what Cinder had seen. It was solid right up until it didn't need to be, yet it could manipulate itself to wild degrees. Such as retracting, a piece of the arm's presence Salem had only mentioned in passing.
Though Cinder had quickly picked up on how to hide the abomination of a limb, though it wasn't pleasant. She clenched her jaw tight and prepared for the trial. The sounds of snapping, crumbling bone and skin resounded through the washroom, sending Cinder's other hand barreling down and just barely catching the rim of the bathtub. Her eye slammed shut as the pain streaked up into what remained of her arm. To handle the pain, her teeth bit down hard again, drawing blood from the inside of her cheek. Though the pain was temporary, gradually deflating to the point of a dull knowledge of unease, Cinder painstakingly sighed aloud. "Good gods…" She swore, now just with the one arm, having to balance herself just a tad more. When she had done so, Cinder released an iron-coated sigh. Her tone was laden with sarcasm, her hand tightened on the tub as she scoffed, "Fine, let's enjoy a pointless bath and derive no enjoyment from laziness then." Before she maneuvered herself into the lavender-scented, warm bowl of steaming water.
All the groans, the scoffing, the pouting, their causes seemed to dissipate when her toes touched the hot water. "Holy…" She muttered. The hot water was like ambrosia to her. The large metal tub's bottom had scarcely contacted her foot before Cinder threw the other frozen limb in. Feeling the growing disparity in temperature wafting over her, the chill in her bones really came to bear. Slowly, being mindful that she now only had one arm to catch her should she slip, Cinder leveraged herself down opposite the faucet. Though this placed her back to the door, the waves of heat and warmth brought security she had long forgotten about. Her golden eye rolled back in her head as her shoulders broke the water. Letting her arm sway over her to throw some of the water to her neck.
Perhaps, on this one odd and exotic occasion, wasting time pittering away in a bathtub surrounded by bubbles and the sweet stench of lavender was not so bad. Bubbles rose and popped from the hot steam, covering the whole of Cinder's form. Her hand swayed gently within the bath. A child-like smile began to grow as she watched the bubbles move, lifting them up in her hand to inspect the tremendous white fluff. As if on some buried instinct, Cinder drew the foam closer to her. Pursing her lips and blowing at the mound. The white cloud flew without care from her hand, the bubbles popping gently as they soared a few inches of the tub's water. As it lifted, Cinder felt herself giggle on that same reflex as before. The small snort that left her, however, coincided with the sound of the heavy latches opening.
Now, it wouldn't be a stretch to say Cinder jumped. Though it would be an understatement. As the heavy door once more swung open, Cinder's more child-like instincts, the many nights of being caught enjoying herself by eating at scraps flooded back to mind. So when the door opened, Cinder began to rise in the tub. Thankfully for her modesty, however, Cinder only turned over when Lila hurried past where Cinder was leaning upon. "Sorry! I couldn't knock." Lila explained. Cinder blushed madly as the woman bounded past her. Sinking back into the water, letting only her eye sit above the water as she watched the woman run about. In her arms was a bundle of what looked like clothing. Lila placed the bundle down on a table opposite the door. Though Cinder's eye did not remain on the garb alone.
No, Cinder's gaze instead drifted to the new attire of the woman assisting her. Instead of the robes and bulbous clothing this Lila had previously worn, she had changed to a far more form-fitting ensemble. Jeans hugged her legs, accompanied by a dark green sweater that sat just sat a little too baggy across her slim shoulders, though the arms were rolled up to Lila's elbows. Cinder noticed that when the woman turned around, her hair had fallen out of her bun, letting it instead flow down over her shoulder.
But the observations were still going both ways. As Cinder's eyes went from the hair, she made direct eye contact with a smirking Lila. The woman's arms crossed as she looked down on the floating head. Her voice was soft as she chuckled, "You look cute, sat like that." Cinder's brow quivered, taking a moment to process what had just been said. But when she had gotten that she had been complimented, the floating head turned a violent red, the water bubbling just a little more as the heat was cranked up by her fleeting powers. The small act of warming the water was unnoticed by Lila, but the sudden redness of the cute girl in her bath was not. Cinder's head was raised from the water with a sputtering cough, likely that she had sucked some water in while shocked. "Y-you can leave now!" Cinder declared, her hand raising and wiping stray bubbles that had clung to her face. A smug huff met her declaration. The woman was once more meddling about in the room.
Crouching down to Cinder's left side, making them partially blind maiden turn her whole form to track her, Lila opened another cabinet. "On the contrary, I can't leave until you've actually cleaned." She said with a small sigh to her tone, Cinder watching as she reached into the back of the wooden cabinet. From the dark cupboard, Cinder winced as Lila pulled out a cast-iron bucket by the handle. "Are you refilling this? Don't bother; it's plenty warm." Rolling her eye as she scoffed. Lila, however, mimicked her pageantry. "You wish, no, we're gonna get you clean." The Maiden paused, her brow going rigid as she turned back. "What do you mean by…?" Cinder shifted away suddenly in the bath. From the bucket, Lila drew a pair of wooden brushes and cloths.
She didn't immediately accept the cleaning, but Cinder had to admit that the brushes' roughness felt ridiculously good. The rough sound of them going back and forth over her back barely overshadowed the soft muttering of Cinder. Lila, all the while, struggled not to laugh as this feral woman slowly melted into the bathtub. "So…" Lila tried, her voice a little quiet as she swallowed. At the same time, Cinder's mouth descended. "Why do you-," "So how did you get here?" The two speaking over each other. A red glow overcame both of them. Lila stopped her scrubbing for a moment. "Sorry." Lila gasped lightly, her hand barely skimming over Cinder's back as she retracted. In turn, Cinder coughed a little at the light sensation, "S-sorry."
Turning back a touch to look over. The amber eye met with lilac for a moment. The blush on each woman's face was apparent even in such a short time. Forcing both to look away, Cinder quickly tried to fill the air. "W-why do you have such a heavy duty brush. Not that I'm complaining but..?" Lila laughed a touch, relieved that she wasn't the one to break the quiet. Leaning down for a moment to the bucket, she grasped one of the washcloths. "Well, a lot of animals live around these parts. They get caught in the mud, slow dogs aren't gonna outrun a Beowulf." Lila rang out the cloth, then touching Cinder's shoulder. The Maiden grumbled before she leaned back, "So what, you have a pack of dogs hidden around here?" The cloth raised to the Maiden's face, Lila stifled a laugh, "Hope not, the strays always tread about the garden."
Cinder hummed, "The garden?" Her amber eye looked up into the smiling face of her cleaner. Who nodded as she wiped at the Maiden's cheek. "Yeah, but you asked your questions. I want a turn." The woman muttered, inspecting Cinder's face closely as she talked. "Why were you all crumpled up by the lake out there?" A twist in Cinder's mind considered being honest. This woman wasn't long for this world anyway, just as soon as her powers were back. "Well, I got in a bit of a fight." the woman smiled calmly as she continued to wipe away, "I fear for the other guy then. You seem pretty strong, Cindy." Oh, how she hated that name. She hated every syllable that seemed to drip from this woman's perfect mouth. Wait… what?
"Y-yes! I.. I um, I fought them for as long as I could but…" Cinder tried to sort through her words, her head muddled with a wild degree of why she thought such away. "But they got the better of me." Cinder said finally, turning her head partially away again to hide her blush. Lila sighed a little, pushing some of the black hair aside to see Cinder's ear. "You also have lovely earrings." Cinder's blush only grew; the Maiden was forced once more to bite the interior of her mouth. Through the bite, she muttered, "T-thanks." Lila's gentle hand slipped behind the Maiden's ear; Cinder burned bright with the light prickling. The sensation was near ticklish as Lila stroked on.
Lila's voice came as a whisper directly into Cinder's ear, the warm breath pushing her hair to stand on end. The warmth of her voice still could not overshadow Lia's words, "Have you ever washed behind your ears?" Cinder quickly turned over, though neither of the women had accounted on the distance between them. When Cinder turned, the angle she took pushed her chin just high enough to mirror Lila's. Doing so, the Maiden unintentionally smashed their lips together, to which both women froze.
It was a good five seconds before both of their brains fully computed what had just happened. Though there was no big splash, no high gasp. Instead, there was a silent parting of lips, the gentle noise of a tongue rolling over and clicking. "I… I'm going to go check on the stew." Lila said, nodding a little and pressing herself up. Cinder, in turn, her golden eye frozen on the spot Lila, nodded. "Sounds… good," Cinder cleared her throat, nodding to herself before looking back up to the woman, "Lila." The lilac-eyed woman's smile grew, nodding to herself as a blush developed heavily on her, turning and rushing out of the washroom. The noise of the door swinging open allowed Cinder to turn her head forward. Nodding as she did so, before turning a brilliant red, then dunking her head under the water. The shrill noise of screaming bubbling up to the surface as Cinder let loose her panicked lungs into the tub.