"But I want to stay with Nolt!" Caroline cried woefully, holding on as tightly as she could to Nolt's right arm. Leila had her own arms wrapped around the barbaroi woman's waist from behind, trying to pry Caroline away from Nolt, but without much success.
"You can't!" Leila said through clenched teeth as she heaved again. She was slightly out of breath and her face was beginning to turn red from exertion. "This is a resort, Caroline! There's no way in hell anyone's going to let you go into the male's side! Stop embarrassing yourself!"
The others in the group tried to ignore what was going on by pretending to study the walls, the floor, the ceiling. They didn't know what else to do.
It'd been almost an hour since they'd arrived at the resort and checked into their rooms. After unpacking their things, Charlotte had suggested that they take a leisurely dip into the hot springs to help relax their travel-worn muscles, and they'd all agreed---
---but Caroline hadn't wanted to leave Nolt's side, and Leila wasn't about to let her get her way. Nolt stood as still and stony as a statue, his eyes shadowed and unreadable. He wasn't about to let himself get involved with a squabble between two women, and chose instead to follow everyone else's example . . . he just acted like nothing was going on.
"C'mon!!" Leila demanded, her face beginning to contort as she heaved with her strongest pull yet.
"No!" Caroline said, her voice just as tight as she strengthened her hold around Nolt's arm. In a fit of frustration, Leila let go of the Caroline's waist and reached down for the other woman's feet instead. She jerked hard at Caroline's legs, bending her own body at a sharp angle so that she would have much more leverage. Caroline was lifted straight up into the air, her body now parallel with the floor as Leila continued to pull at her ankles. She didn't seem to notice her sudden elevation, though, and kept her arms locked around Nolt's arm. Benge suddenly yawned, tired of counting the fibers in the wooden walls.
"Caroline," he started, "just go over to the women's side, already. I didn't come all the way here just to spend my whole vacation waiting out in the hall."
"Then go in by yourself!" Caroline snapped at him. "Nobody's forcing you to wait!"
"Fine," Benge huffed. "You're damn right I don't have to wait for you. I'm going in. The rest of you and Tinkerbell can stay out here if you want, but I'm not waiting anymore."
"Shut up with the Tinkerbell already!" Grove shouted from the back of the group, trying hard to stretch his neck around the others so that he could glare at Benge from his wheelchair.
Benge ignored him and strolled away from the group, heading into the open door leading into the men's baths. After exchanging a few looks with one another, everyone else shrugged their shoulders and followed suit, the men trailing into the men's room and Carmila into the women's room. Charlotte remained behind to keep watch over Nolt, Leila, and Caroline. Once everyone were gone, Leila finally sighed and stopped pulling.
"C'mon now," Leila said, sounding a little defeated as she let go of the Caroline's ankles. Caroline's body thumped to the floor since Leila wasn't holding her up anymore, but she continued to cling to Nolt. "There's no point in trying to follow Nolt everywhere he goes," Leila continued as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're only making things more difficult than they have to be."
Caroline grunted, but she didn't say a word. Leila sighed again, raising her right hand up to rub her brow. She was tired of fighting, and just wanted to enjoy the hot springs.
Sensing her cue, Charlotte suddenly approached Caroline and knelt down beside the barbaroi woman. A gentle smile lighted her beautiful face as she laid a graceful hand down against Charlotte's back. Leila watched on in silence, leaving Caroline in Charlotte's convincing hands.
"Caroline," Charlotte said softly in a reassuring voice, "Nolt's not going anywhere. He's going to be right next to us on the men's side of the hot spring. Since the hot spring we'll be bathing in is sectioned off from the men's side by a bamboo wall, you'll actually be sharing the same spring with Nolt, using the same water. That should be good enough for now, right?"
Caroline stared at Charlotte for a moment, thinking carefully about what the other woman said. After another moment, she realized just how worried Charlotte was, and she didn't want to hurt the rare sweetness. Slowly, she released her grip on Nolt's arm, but she made a silent promise to herself to reattach herself as soon as she could. Nolt's body suddenly relaxed, relieved of all of the tension that the situation had caused. As Caroline picked herself off of the floor, Nolt casually disappeared into the men's room, having said nothing throughout the entire ordeal. Caroline watched in wistful desire, then shook herself and turned back to Leila and Charlotte.
"So what's taking you two so long?" she said as though nothing had ever happened. "We're not going to leave the spring completely to Carmila, now are we?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, what're you two doing?" Meier asked pointedly as he watched Benge and Kyle heading directly for the spring. They were both already undressed and wrapped with towels---but Benge was still wearing his hood and makeup. The two of them stopped in their tracks at the sound of Meier's voice from behind them, hearing the repulsion that laced his words.
"Well what does it look like we're doing?" Kyle asked dubiously, looking over his shoulder. "We're going to hunker down in the spring." Meier arched a graceful eyebrow, accentuating his disgusted expression.
"Without washing first?" Meier responded, his look reproachful.
Kyle and Benge exchanged looks before sighing in resignation and turning back to the men's baths. Meier continued to watch them until he was sure that they wouldn't try to backtrack again. After a minute or two, he snorted to himself in satisfaction, then headed back through the baths and into the locker room to finish disrobing.
"Can you believe that guy?" Kyle muttered under his breath as he watched Meier passing through. "I feel like I've just been scolded by my own mother."
"Tell me about it," Benge muttered back as he seated himself down on a stool.
"You have a mother?" Kyle asked, genuinely surprised. Benge threw him a dirty look.
"Hey, guys," Nolt said, seating himself down by a sink next to their own. Kyle grinned, a wry twist of his lips that made Nolt pause.
"So I see that you've finally managed to get away from Caroline," Kyle started, his mocking tone drawing a smile from Benge who was quick to join in.
"You know she's a man-eater, Nolt," Benge said casually. "Once she gets tired of one, her face'll be the last thing he'll ever see."
"Shut up," Nolt snapped, his voice a low rumble in his throat. "Caroline's not so bad. Just back off."
"What?" Kyle said, stunned for a moment---but he quickly recovered and smiled again, even more mischievously. "I see," he continued in a smooth voice. "So it's already started."
"What's started?" Nolt asked, suspicious. Benge shrugged and took up a bar of soap, rubbing the cake against a course wash cloth.
"First she gets you to let your guard down," Benge said as he swung the cloth around to start scrubbing his back. "Then she goes in for the kill."
"You're already falling under her spell," Kyle interjected, filling a bucket with some water from the sink. Once full, he picked it up and poured the liquid over his shoulder, the water washing over his entire torso in a single splash. "I give it 'til the end of the day before it's all over for you."
"You guys are stupid if you think I'd fall for something like that," Nolt said, quietly brushing them off. "Spells and stuff . . . what a bunch of crap."
"Didn't you just try to defend her?" Kyle continued to argue, again filling the bucket.
"So? What of it?"
"That's her influence, man."
"And you don't think that it could be because I like Caroline, too?"
"Do you?"
Both Kyle and Benge paused to stare at Nolt as the bigger man blushed, too embarrassed to trust himself to give a coherent answer. He coughed instead and turned his back on them, proceeding to douse his head with shampoo.
"Nolt," Kyle said knowingly. "You don't have any hair."
"Wait a minute," Benge said, suddenly holding up his hand. Kyle and Nolt both stared at him as he cocked his head as if listening for something. After a while, he threw them both a concerned look. "Have you seen the old man?"
Kyle stopped, only now remembering that they had brought the Leader of the Barbarois with them after the old man had thrashed them earlier.
"I don't remember seeing him after we all checked in," he said thoughtfully. "Why?"
Benge was about to say something, but then stopped and just shrugged his shoulders. "It won't be our problem . . . it's those pretty boys and the women on the other side who've got something to worry about."
On the other side of washing wall, Borgoff, Mashira, and Grove sat in a straight line, each one silently washing by their own sinks. Mashira was barely recognizable, completely covered in soapy lather all over the entire length of his body.
"Hey, Borgoff," Grove said from the other side of Mashira. Grove had his back propped up against the washing wall. "Can you pass me the shampoo? My bottle's all out."
Borgoff grunted and handed his bottle to Mashira who then handed it to Grove.
"Thanks," Grove said appreciatively.
A few minutes later, Meier joined them on the farthest end of the wall. The others continued to scrub and wash without noticing the vampire.
Borgoff was the first to smell it.
"Jasmine?" he said, sniffing the air. Slowly, he turned his head at an angle towards Meier who sat right next to him, still sniffing the scent of Jasmine that was coming from the vampire. Meier was busily rubbing himself all over with some kind of oil that Borgoff assumed came from the bottle made of fine crystal set down beside him. He continued to stare at Meier until the vampire finally felt the weight of Borgoff's eyes on him.
"What?" Meier asked, slightly irritated, as he returned Borgoff's stare.
"What the hell are you doing?" Borgoff asked in a low, disbelieving tone. Meier grunted, slighted.
"What the hell does it look like I'm doing?" he retorted. "I'm rubbing a special cleansing oil on my body, and then I'm going to scrape it off with a blade."
"Why would you want to do that?" Mashira asked, his voice sounding a little bubbly. He and Grove had been eavesdropping, having sensed that something was going on between Borgoff and Meier. Mashira was now an unrecognizable pillar of lathered soap with only his eyes visible behind it. They questioned Meier, now, dubious and critical.
"Because it's the best way to get off the sweat and grime of the day," Meier answered flippantly. "The oil soaks it all up, and then all you have to do is scrape it off. That's how the ancient Romans did it back in the day."
Borgoff snorted and reached down for his back scrubber. He lifted it in front of Meier along with a bar of Ivory soap. "These are what men use to clean themselves," he said slowly, his eyes fixed on the vampire. "It's all we need . . . none of that prissy stuff that you're using."
Meier didn't even glance at Borgoff's brush and soap, but continued to stare down at the other man with unwavering eyes. Mashira and Grove remained quiet as they watched the silent battle of wills taking place between their two comrades. Finally, Meier slowly reached down and pulled up a long knife that looked strikingly similar to a shaving blade. Then he slid it beside Borgoff's brush, the beige and worn bristles dulled by the gleam of the blade's sharp edge.
"Tell me again which is the man's tool," Meier said softly, his eyes hard and challenging. Borgoff looked down and compared the two instruments carefully. After some thought, he quietly turned away and began to lather his brush with soap without answering Meier's question. The vampire returned to what he was doing, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.
"Jasmine oil," Borgoff muttered, almost as though it were an afterthought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mmmm," Leila breathed contently. She sunk even lower into the warmth of the water, breathing in the sharp, sweet scent of the spring's natural minerals. "This is so nice."
"It's decent," Carmila murmured, her back leaning up against a large boulder centered in the middle of the spring. "Not as good as others I've visited in the past, but this one stands up for good measure."
"It's heaven," Charlotte sighed, rubbing a soft cloth against the side of her face. Her face was flushed from the heat of the water, giving her skin a beautiful, rosy glow. Caroline barely noticed the talk of the other women as she gazed longingly at the bamboo wall lining the far side of the spring. It began at the resort building and ended about fifty feet down, stopping abruptly before it could completely divide the spring in two.
Thanks to the trees that surrounded the springs, a grayish haze hovered in the air, an atmosphere of evaporated spring water so thick that no real sunlight could pierce through it.
All was calm, lazy, and serene . . . except for a slight movement of shadow over by some bushes nearby.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"YEEEHAAAH!!"
There was a loud splash as Kyle jumped into the spring, leaping as hard and far as he could. The towel from around his waste came undone while he was still flying through midair, but it didn't fall completely away until after he'd landed waste deep in the warm, rich water.
"AHHHH!!" he sighed loudly as he kneeled down so that the water came up to his neck. "The water's perfect." His bluish towel was suddenly flung onto his face. "Hey!"
"Put that back on," Borgoff said as he sat himself down a few feet away. "Nobody wants to look at your pecker."
"Sounds like you're jealous, Borgoff," Kyle said with a mocking smile as he removed the towel from his face. Borgoff ignored him. Benge had joined Mashira near one of the rock edges of the spring while Nolt lowered Grove into the shallowest end.
"I can feel my muscles melting already," Grove said as he settled in. "This is a good spring. Good therapy for the body."
"Hey," Kyle said, looking around. "Where's Meier and D?"
"I'm just coming," Meier said, walking out onto the deck that edged the spring. "D's still washing inside."
"Wouldn't take so damn long if you both just used a scrub brush," Borgoff muttered to himself.
If Meier heard, he ignored it. He stepped down into the spring and settled against the patio, splaying his arms out across its length, resting his head back with his eyes closed.
Everyone sat in silence for quite some time, enjoying the tranquility of the hot spring. The steam rising from the mineral water soon had their faces flushed and relaxed, each becoming almost completely lost in repose.
Nobody kept track of the time, but it was a while before D finally joined them. He came out of the men's washroom, just as naked as the rest of the men but for the black towel wrapped around his own waist.
"Why does everything you own have to be black?" the hand muttered as D stepped into the spring. "The resort provides you with clean towels, D. It's tacky to bring your own."
"Quiet, or I'll drown you in the spring," D said placidly as he sat down near Meier.
"Do it and I'll suck the whole thing in and ruin everybody's day."
Kyle opened his eyes and looked at D, his lids slightly drooped. He studied D, noticing a few things that had him staring even harder. "You know," he said after a while, "you can take your hat off while you're in the spring, D."
"I like this hat," D responded indifferently. Kyle straightened, his stubborn curiosity now piqued and unwilling to get blown off.
"I've never seen you without that hat," he said suspiciously. "C'mon. Take it off. I want to know what you look like without it."
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to."
"Ah, c'mon."
"Oh, let it be," Meier suddenly cut in, his voice lilting, his eyes still closed. "It's not important.
"No, I think Kyle's got a point," Borgoff interjected, also sitting up. "Hey, D. No one's here but us men. Just take the damn hat off and let's see what you've got hiding under there."
"I'm not hiding anything," D said quietly.
"Then why don't you ever take off that hat? Damn, seems like no matter what we do, that hat doesn't ever come off. Do you have it stapled to your head, or something?"
"That's none of your business."
Now the others were raptly focused on the D. Even Meier popped an eye open to throw a look over in D's direction, unable to hide his own curiosity.
D ignored them and closed his eyes in meditation, making Kyle slap the water in annoyance.
"Take off the damn hat!" he yelled.
Silence.
"Take it off, or I'll come over and take it off myself!"
"Just try it," D murmured, unaffected.
Benge suddenly stood before Kyle had the chance to respond, the barbaroi's sudden movement drawing all eyes on him. He held out his right hand which was clutching a fistful of matches.
*What he was doing with matches in a hot spring is anybody's guess.*
"This a challenge to all those who claim to be men," Benge announced in a booming voice. "All those who wish to participate must take a match stick from my fist. Whoever draws the one without a head gets the honor of swiping the hat from D's head. Does anyone here wish to take up the challenge that only real men would dare?"
