"Hurry, com'on!" Shylie hissed, beckoning Dakota to run across the hallway. They were on their way to the hot springs for his bath.

Dakota left a trail of dirt on the smooth clean marble floor. Shylie couldn't believe a fairy could get so dirty.

They quietly snuck down to the hot springs quarry. No others were there.

"Thank you," Dakota breathed as soon as he saw the steaming water.

Shylie shut the door behind them, "Now, you can't just..." but it was too late, Dakota was already stripping off his dirty covering. She turned around with a reddening face "march in there..."

"Already have," Dakota laughed and it echoed on the quarry walls.

"Are you in yet?" Shylie asked getting frustrated.

There was silence, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Oh, you are so ignorant, I find it hardly amusing," Shylie breathed with irritation.

She waited to hear if he was actually in the water or not. He was humming. She heard him go under.

"Ah-HAH!" she turned around but he was already back up.

"What!" he asked alarmed. He was waist deep into the water. She gaped, he didn't look at all like the dirty Underclass she had seen before. His curly dark blonde hair was practically shining. Without the dirt on his face, his cheeks were rosy and his eyes sparkled like a silver mine. He wasn't badly built either, proven by rippling stomach muscles and his very bronzed skin. She swallowed a new kind of lump in her throat, he really was sexy! But she couldn't admit that to herself.

"You..." she looked away from him and to the water for a distraction, "got the water really dirty."

"No worries, it drains down the mountain," he assured her and scooted back under the small waterfall. "You should take a bath too."

"Excuse me!" Shylie about shrieked.

"You look tense, the water should relax you before you get your 'stress wrinkles'," Dakota laughed.

"I do not have wrinkles!" Shylie screamed angrily.

"Not right now, but you'll eventually get them acting the way you do," he said and dipped back his head into the water.

"What do you mean by that?" Shylie turned around.

"You're too uptight, and you couldn't take a joke if your life depended on it," he laughed scratching left-over dirt particles out of his hair.

"If I were you, I'd watch what you'd say. With a snap of my fingers, you could be dragged out of here, without your covering," she threatened.

"Oh yeah?" Dakota raised an eyebrow and leaned on the edge of the pool.

"Yeah," Shylie stuck out her tongue and was answered with a splash of water in her face.

"How dare you..." she started to say, but he splashed a handful of water at her again.

"What are you gonna do about it, your majesty? As far as we know, you still can't fly," he taunted.

"You cocky little bastard," she huffed and picked up his dandelion covering that was smothered in dirt. He watched her as she walked to the far side of the pool and threw it in.

"Hey now, that was my only covering. Well, I guess I'll just stroll around in the nude from now on," he laughed and moved toward the stairs that lead out of the pool.

"NO!" Shylie screeched and ran to stand in front of him.

"Fine, I suppose I can wear that but you have to get it," Dakota bargained.

"What? It's all the way in the water. I'm not getting in the water," Shylie protested.

"Then it's the nude," he said and tried getting out.

"Fine," she sighed angrily and went back down towards the floating dandelion covering. He watched in amusement.

She stretched her arm out for it but she couldn't reach. She looked at Dakota but he just crossed his arms and shrugged. She took her arm back and stretched out her leg. If it were a little closer to the edge, she could have reached it with her toe.

"A little help?" she asked looking at him again. He slowly waded down to her and stood next to it. "Well? You can grab it if you want it now," she said and took her leg back.

"You threw it in,"

"You SPLASHED me!"

"You still didn't have to throw it in," he said smartly and kept his arms crossed.

She grunted with annoyance and stuck her leg out over the water again. Maybe the current had pushed it over a little from the last time.

It was no use, she couldn't grab the covering. She had an idea, there were other clothes besides that in the palace, all she needed to do was go get a robe or something for him.

"Wait here, I'll get you something else," she said while standing. She turned but failed to see the puddle of water on the stone floor. With a tiny squeak, she slipped and fell backwards into the hot spring.

"Whoa!" Dakota shouted and caught her in the water.

"Oh curses, now I'm all wet," she crossed her arms.

"Weak in the knees are we, your highness?" Dakota asked quietly looking her in her baby blue eyes.

"Oh get off me! This is all your fault," she said and clawed at him. He set her down and she stood in the water, it was up to her shoulders. It was up to his pecs.

She swallowed that same lump in her throat. They were close to each other, too close. He knew it too.

"I'll go get you a robe then," she said and headed toward the stairs.

"Great, that's...great," Dakota said abstractly as he watched her climb out of the pool, dripping water onto the floor.

She dripped along the quarry floor and finally came to the robe closet. She grabbed a beaver fur robe and brought it back. "Here."

"Thank you," Dakota smiled and took it, making sure it didn't touch the water. "You might want to turn around."

"Oh yes," Shylie whirled around.

She heard him step out.

"Decent?"

"Yup,"

She turned around. No mistaking him for the dirty fairy he was an hour ago. He almost looked Royal when he was clean.

"So do I get some slippers and pipe too?" he asked.

"Don't count on it," she laughed but covered her mouth.

Dakota looked at her with puzzlement for a minute and then asked, "Did I just make you laugh?"

"No."

"I think I did,"

"No, I didn't laugh," Shylie stated.

"Wait till' everyone hears that you laughed without menacing evil," Dakota danced around her excitedly.

"You need to dry off," Shylie tried changing the subject.

"You do too, after you slipped in like you did," Dakota threw back.

"Fine, I'm going to the heated rocks," She said and marched off.

"Fine, I'm going too," He stuck his nose in the air mockingly and followed her.