V5 Incline 3: Nin

"Gods above, that boy is so frustrating!" Einervaene lets out, coming our way with all that attitude she should've unloaded onto Baltanthan. Whatever is left, however, seems to mostly go into the dirt with those metallic heels of hers.

"Hm?" I go, more so minding my upcoming bath as I finish putting all of my clothes in the old cauldron we lucked in on during our travels. Though, seeing as Einervaene's now here...?

I gesture innocently, not sure if I should ask her or if she knows the drill.

"Oh, right, sorry." she goes, shooting out a zap of lightning to ignite the small pile of wood below. The fire pops into existence, clawing away at the blackened, rusty metal. Much to Einervaene's delight, however, the rust is not because of Baltanthan this time around. It was just like that when we found it. Though it was a pain to deal with either way as a lot of our early laundry picked up some lovely... Lovely rust stains.

"Now we let this blood and cloth stew boil." I let out, shrugging as Rose continues to linger with her so-called regular clothes. I doubt her lingerie will enjoy bathing in water like this, and she certainly seems eager to prove it. Still, she'll have to get to it at some point.

Einervaene lets out a heavy sigh, walking on by with my attention clinging to her copper-coloured braids.

"Something on your mind other than Baltanthan?" I ask her, and she shrugs as she looks around.

"No, no. I apologise, Urtuoi-kischu, I was just thinking." she barely explains.

"About?" I ask, my naked stroll to the natural mountain pool bringing her along with me.

"This, actually." she says, her usual fears propping up.

"I've told you before, Einervaene. Nothing is going to happen to you, silly." I tell her, offering her a cheeky smile as she flushes up with embarrassment.

"B-Be quiet." she snaps gently and with a meek look away.

"Either or, can you heat this water up, too?" I ask her, one step away from laughing as she nervously approaches the edges of the water. Her clothes are certainly not messy like mine were or how Baltanthan's and Rose's still are. But she can certainly do with some fresh laundry like the rest of us. Perhaps it would be better for her to do it all with Rose, though, Rose knows how to handle those hand-me-downs far better than I do.

"What if I-" Einervaene lets out, my gentle pat on the back making her squeal.

"I'm right here, Einervaene, nothing will happen." I assure her, lingering away from the water for good measure as she musters the courage. We don't have the luxury of an internal heating or fancy plumbing right now. All we have is her, our living boiler.

"A-Alright..." she says, her white-gloved hands sparking viciously as the magic builds up across them. She lingers, her magic not quite able to reach out of her for reasons I'm blind to.

"Shhh, shhh. It's alright." I soothe her with, holding her close despite the growing heart-made burns across her face. She looks back my way, eyes wide, far too wide. We nudge closer to the water, and I hold her steady, letting that blue lightning of hers arc across the surface and into the depths. We linger and linger, waiting as the gentle hum of her magic whips up a cloud of foggy steam with all its skin-polishing grace.

Pulling her back, she finds her footing, a nodding thanks plastered all over her face. I keep my grin, waiting for the last of the static to leave the water. My forward-most foot takes the plunge, and I sink beneath the subtle waves. A satisfied sigh leaves me as the tingling, lingering shocks give the bath an amusing feel.

The water itself might lack magic, but her power certainly helps fill in for that discrepancy.

"Where're you going?" I ask, turning around as footsteps and tipstabs fill the air. I watch the pair of women rush about, their attention everywhere and nowhere. Near silent vocally, too.

"Found it!" Rose declares, victory puffing up her firm-breasted chest.

"Ah-" Einervaene tries to contest, so close and yet so far. Rose huffs with the arrogance of a victor, and she sashays on over. Her tail taking the container into a tight coil while her hands slip her body free of any remaining clothes. A whistle barely makes its way through my bug jaw, and I look away, not eager to encourage her usual behaviour. The water splashes, a well-kept woman of high-blooded birth wading her way in with way too many shakes of the hips.

She settles in on the deep end, turning my way as she smiles with a knowing lust. Her bulbs glow bright, catching on the shimmering water and disturbing the otherwise clear steam. Front forward, she almost dances her way down, dipping the tips of her... Like an ink stamp for invoices.

I look away again, her giggling catching my attention less than she might hope it might. The water waders and its not long for me to find her at my side, a trail of growing bubbles in the water. She slips ahead, anchoring her head on the wet rocks while the water makes it look like she's about to fly away. A pair of... Islands, so barely staying above the dangerous waters.

"Gods help me." I groan, trying to make it look like I'm keeping my focus to the cleaning of my carapace and the bug muscle beneath. However, with each gentle wave of her hands she stirs up more and more bubbles. All around her. Soapy bubbles that will really help me clean myself.

The water breaks, hers arms coming up wide as she crosses them over above her head. Her bottom half also breaking up as her lower half suddenly seems all the more pronounced. Though her eyes are a pitch-black, she knows how to work all the muscles around them. And that giggle and smile of hers do not help at all.

"My love, might I offer you some help with your problem?" she dares to ask me, one of her hands swirling a mountain of bubbles around her closest... A heavy blink overtakes my face.

"Which problem!?" I wheeze, so very glad for once that I ended up becoming an osibindah. A human has much more problems addressing the points of views of his lower half!

A sultry giggle escapes her and she pushes herself up, letting all of the water drip away. Jagged drops adding to it that were certainly not there before. She moves closer, snuggling right up against me as her furthest arm dances up to my head. Tickling at all the gaps between my natural armour.

"You. Tell. Me." she goes, coming closer with each word as her husky breath clogs my narrow-tunnelled ears. I lean away, my chitters acting up in a way that can only substitute for my inability to blush. I might not be human anymore, but it doesn't matter, Rose's expertise in teasing the opposite sex is a universal skill. One that knows no boundaries other than her wants and willingness to arouse.

"Cleaning- Cleaning!" I snap and bark, covering my special place even more so than it is already armoured up with. Her disappointment breaks apart her giggles only so much, and I shuffle forward without any complaint at all as she squeezes in behind.

"Ooooo, what a tight fit. Shame there's a way we can make it tighter." she teases, gnashing her teeth so eagerly as I internally scream.

"U-Uh! Urtuoi-kischu!" Einervaene stammers, snatching up my desperate attention.

"Yes, Einervaene!?" I answer perhaps too loud.

"I'm... I'm getting in the water now..." the pale-skinned beauty admits, the water rising more than it already as as another body slips in. One that's right up against me in no time at all.

"Uh...." I go, lingering the noise on my tongue as Rose backs off from her own advances. Far too competitive for my liking fullstop.

"I'm sorry... I, I just don't want an accident to happen." she explains with no nervous volts or shocks going off about her at all. Another sigh escapes me, one full of complaints that I might be shocked in water while being smothered with sexually aggressive plant-woman.

"Then, perhaps it is best you wait for us to be done?" Rose lets out with sudden nastiness as she pulls on me.

"It's fine. She can't be expected to keep reheating the water." I go, perfectly fine with her being here so long as it keeps Rose on a leash.

"Very well, my love," she huffs, her disappointment clear as her self-conscious side starts to show. She tightens her grip on me while Einervaene does the same but for opposite reasons.

"You know, I'm trying to clean myself, right?" I go to the pair of them, even if their naked rubbing is at least getting some of the caked-up blood off of my shell. There are better ways to go about this, however...

"S-Sorry..." Einervaene squeaks, her shaking nerves the least of her worries.

"It's fine." I go, knowing full well that I am basically on duty for as long as she's in the water. If anything, actually, that means I should focus on her. Getting up onto my feet, the girls relinquish their grips on me, only to react completely different.

Rose perks up in the ways she hasn't already, tail wagging away as my steamed-up body catches some light. Einervaene, however, hides behind her hands, voice a mess of stammers that just never seem to end. Like a factory line that can only spit out incomplete things as if it's all some dramatic comedy. But there's one thing both of them are missing out on.

"I have nothing hanging out here!" I call out way too loudly, catching Baltanthan's distant attention as he grumbles away sorting out our dinner. Food is cooking, and drinks of mainly the alcoholic kind are coming out into the open.

"I can fix that." Rose giggles confidently, shrugging her shoulders as she gives me a knowing smirk. I will not bet against her on that.

"O-O-Oh..." Einervaene goes, her fingers coming together as she pushes them close. Up and down, against each other and away. I reach over to her, Rose's confidence shattering instantly as I heave Einervaene up. The clutzy copperhead staggers ahead, smacking against my wet torso with her voluptuous form. A curvy body that offers so much more than Rose's ever could, even with how paranoid this little redhead is about our food supplies.

"Come on, you, stop hiding yourself and lets get you properly cleaned." I say, letting her drop most of her body beneath the water. I follow suit, not wanting her head to be in line with anything that would make her uncomfortable. Though my claws are not the best for it, I get started by gathering some bubbles, trying my damndest to ignore Rose's heartbroken stare.

Bloody aelenvari and their strange idea of love...

"Clean yourself up, Einervaene. Let's get you out of the water, quickly." I assure her, appealing to her fears of electrocuting herself in the bath more so than anything Rose might want. However, that doesn't stop the jealous aelenvari from slithering up and snatching one of Einervaene's legs up. Scrubbing it vigorously as I am left to brace her, so she doesn't slip and drown in a panic.

"Th-Thank you..." Einervaene mutters, her lips barely above the lightly soaped over water.

"No problem." I tell her, letting her undo her braids so I can sort of brush the strands with as many bubbles as I can. She settles into the groove, doing what she can while Rose is otherwise borderline violent with her efforts.

"A-Ah..." Einervaene lets out, the mixture of gentle touch and rough scrubbing confusing her somewhat relaxed body. A heavy sigh of mine blows out across the bubbles. Boy, oh boy, tonight is going to be a rough one. At least my filth is not catching on Einervaene any more than it really has to.

"Someone is going to be needing those drinks." I mutter between the splashes.