Disclaimer: I don't even know where to begin this time.

Kain: What in the nine hells have you done?

Smoke: I got a random inspiration and ran with it. Blame my muse.

Kain: Raziel! Come here this instant!

Raziel closes his eyes and covers his ears: Lalalala, I don't know anything about this!

Smoke: Chronilogically, this happens really late in the actual flow of adventures.

20060710

"Oh, take a bath, Kain," I spat, the insult was meant to end the argument.

Though only Raziel had more liberty when dealing with Kain, he seemed to think I had reached the edge of my bounds. He grabbed me around the throat, but his gentleness belied that it was a symbolic gesture.

"You know the results of such an act," Kain growled.

I listlessly tugged at Kain's restraining arm. His grip was uncomfortable, but it wasn't worth calling on my author powers for the strength to break it. I didn't exactly know how quickly the water would eat away at his skin, or what it would leave behind, but it would clearly be unpleasant. It was then that I felt a sense of longing from Kain, a wish that he could tolerate more than the rain.

"You know that I can bend reality to my will," I finally replied.

Kain seemed genuinely taken off-guard. His grip loosened so that only my hold on his arm saved me from an awkward fall.

"What are you implying?" he asked. His voice was soft with confusion.

"I could prevent water from hurting you, for a little while at least," I explained.

Kain's scowl deepened. Even if he did have faith in my abilities, it was very difficult for him to put his trust in anyone.

"You know I wouldn't joke about something like this," I said as I began to walk away.

Kain stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. "If you wanted me dead or injured, you would not need to trick me."

An hour later found us trekking up a narrow mountain path.

Kain patiently waited for me to recover my breath and asked, "Why this excursion?"

"It'll be worth it," I panted.

"I don't see why I couldn't just use your bathtub," Kain muttered. His sullen attitude was so faceted, I couldn't tell what thoughts were causing it. Perhaps he imagined that I really would go to this trouble to make a joke at his expense.

"You wouldn't have fit," I explained. "Even I don't fit." It was shallow and small, but I found it more comfortable to use a mixed unit to shower rather than a simple stall.

We topped a rise to find a natural hot spring nestled among the rocks. Kain stood at the edge of the water and stared at it for a long time. I thought it best not to disturb his contemplation, lest his natural caution get the best of him.

Slowly, Kain reached toward the water. Still not quite believing that I would prevent the water from burning him, Kain flinched as his talon brushed below the surface. His astonishment at the lack of pain showed clearly. Kain scowled again as I laughed at him.

"You should see the look on your face," I giggled.

I had wounded Kain's pride enough times that he didn't mind it so much anymore. At least he didn't mind as long as I was the only one who knew about it.

"Don't spoil the moment," Kain spoke as he flung a handful of water into my face.

Kain unbuckled his chest harness and carefully laid his drape on the rocks. Though I had seen him naked before, I turned my back and gave him some privacy as he peeled away his pants. Another moment, and I cautiously looked over my shoulder to see him comfortably settled in the spring.

Respectfully refusing to look directly at him, I settled on the rocks bordering the spring.

"There is enough room for you as well," Kain offered.

"I'd rather soak up the sun," I sighed as I lay back. Though it was hazy, there was still more light than what could penetrate Nosgoth's sulfurous skies.

After a moment of quiet thought, Kain commented, "Strange how one can grow to miss certain things."

I pulled my head back to watch him let the water run through his claws. "Someday I might grow to understand what you mean."

"You don't already?" Kain asked.

I tried to give the question some thought, and I spoke slowly in an attempt to properly phrase the answer. "I suppose that most of the things I feel connected to, I would be better off without them."

"But you would still grow to miss them," Kain insisted as he brought a handful of water to his lips.

"Don't!" I shouted. In my panic, I slipped off the rock and plunged into the spring. Between disorientation and my full skirt, it took an impossibly long moment for me to come up again. I coughed and gratefully sucked in lungfuls of air. "You didn't swallow, did you?" I gasped.

"No," Kain frowned, his nose wrinkled in distaste. Though his mouth stung, he wasn't truly harmed.

"You know, it doesn't take me long to miss breathing," I coughed as I waded across the spring.

Kain gave a non-commital sigh and leaned back against the edge. He seemed to be growing more content with each passing moment.

I stripped off my outer layer of clothes, wrung them out, and laid them on the rocks to dry. I was slightly ashamed that my boxer shorts featured Jack Skellington and read "My Cemetery or Yours," but I would have died of embarrassment if Kain had caught me wearing the ones with He-man and Skeletor on them.

I fished around in my bag and pulled out a large sponge and some bottles. I knelt by Kain's shoulder and used the sponge to wring water over his head. After a brief flash of panic, Kain relaxed under my careful ministrations. I was confident that he would let me know if the attention was unwanted.

Kain's sighs took on a rumbling quality as I rubbed shampoo into his hair. I reflected on how catlike his attitudes tended to be. He seemed to enjoy being groomed, though he would vehemently deny it if I said anything about it later. I corrected my thoughts by deciding that I would be too busy screaming in pain to hear him deny it if I breathed a word about this.

"Don't fall asleep," I warned.

"What makes you think I would do that?" Kain asked, cracking one eye to look up at me.

"How silly of me," I commented.

"I have had enough," Kain breathed as he slowly rose to his feet.

I pulled a large and plush towel out of my bag and offered it to Kain. Through my closed eyelids, his silhouette pulsed in non-colors so glaring as to be almost imperceptible. I hated not being able to see his expression as he took the towel and wrapped it around his waist, but his motions were relaxed.

Kain seemed to understand that getting dressed would be more pleasant after the last of the damp had left his skin. He sat on one of the rocks, wearing nothing but the towel, and let me comb the moisture out of his hair with a broad pick.

I actually enjoyed tending to Kain like this. It was strangely soothing.

"Do you ever wish that you were mortal again?" I asked quietly. Kain jerked sharply to read my face. "It's curiosity, not an offer," I assured him.

"Is it in your abilities?" Kain asked curiously.

"I could, but it would be so difficult that you would have to be very persistent in demanding it," I answered calmly.

"There was only one time when I desired such a thing," Kain reflected.

"If you were someone else?" I prompted.

"There were many times when I wished that," Kain admitted, "but mortality has nothing to compare with being a dark god."

I snorted at his choice of words, but I said, "I believe it." Finished with my task, I stood up and moved to another rock so that I could face him.

"Do you ever wish to be someone else?" Kain asked.

"I'm constantly living in a fantasy," I answered. "Either I don't wish it because I have it, or I do wish but it's already fulfilled."

I closed my eyes again as Kain groped for his pants. Either he didn't care that I watched him, or he was confident that I wouldn't. Even though I had read dozens of stories with Kain more than exposed, and we had just shared a moment that was in its own way intimate, I felt uncomfortable with actually staring at his body.

"Where have you been?" Raziel asked when we returned.

I shrugged, "Just an adventure from this hare-brain of mine. I think you would have found it boring."