everyone needs some downtime [open]

[Hunter]

Darrion was a little nervous about this, but it wasn't his first time at the springs.  They were a geographical anomaly, a strange little pocket of heat and steam out in the backwoods a good ways from town, and a good way to relax if you ever found the time.  The hike was a moderate one -- a bit more than he was fit for, honestly.  His jobs all involved lifting the occasional heavy object and standing still on his feet, not cardiovascular endurance.  Between that and the unusually light and sunny weather for a winter day, the drake wasn't shivering when he got there.

The springs were technically open to the public, though no signage or accommodations had been erected there, and it was still far out of the way of any paved roads.  Darrion suspected that had to do something with nymphs' political involvement, though he couldn't be sure.  It remained relatively free of litter, nonetheless, and the place was practically deserted at the moment.

Hesitating, he was a little self-conscious about removing the layers of shirts and hoodies and sweatpants to get down to his swimming trunks, not just because he was showing skin, but because he was showing scales, too.  He didn't like making that part of himself known to strangers.  But there weren't many people around this afternoon, anyway, and he tried to reassure himself with that.

On the other hand, you never knew when there might be nymphs hiding around.

Darrion quickly got into the water to escape the cold, submerging himself to his neck for a moment before resting his arms along the edge.  He probably looked a bit silly, wearing a hat in the water, but he wasn't planning to get his head wet and he didn't want his ears to get cold.

[azure]

Arianna had always been curious about how there could be a spring in the forest, much less several of them. Still, it was nice to visit them on occasion, and it had been a while since Aria's last visit. Part of that had been the cold weather, but today she wasn't going to let it stop her. She could make out the steam from the springs just ahead through the trees as she paused a moment to catch her breath and take a moment to listen for anything that would tell her others were already there. She usually didn't meet up with anyone, but after accidentally running into a pair of lovers she'd learned to take the time to listen and make sure she make enough noise as she approached that she could be heard. She looked around at the surroundings, still just out of sight of the spring as she tugged her coat a little closer against her swimsuit and more for the sake of anyone at the springs said loudly, "I've always thought that watching a forest change with the seasons was like watching an artist at a painting."

[Hunter]

After enough time to himself, Darrion had closed his eyes, neglecting to pay attention to his surroundings, and so he was startled when he heard a loud voice from nearby. He had thought there wasn't anyone else around, at least not this close to him. His eyes snapped open in surprise as he looked around to see where the voice had come from, pulling his arms back into the water and drawing in his shoulders. It must've been that white woman over there. She looked some kind of human, if not a fairy, and if that was the case, he didn't want the kind of person who publicly and loudly talked to themselves to know that he was a drake. Then again, maybe she wasn't talking to herself, but he couldn't make out anyone else she might've been speaking to as he cast a few furtive glances around again, brow furrowed.

Tentatively, he ventured, somewhat under his breath but just loud enough for her to hear, "That's not code for something, is it?"

It was such a non sequitur, he had to wonder if it was a signal to the naiads or the fairies to begin an ambush or something.

[azure]

Aria listened for a response, glad that she didn't immediately hear the sounds that went with a group exodus of nature folk clearing out or some such. She did hear someone ask her a question and figured it was probably safe so she walked into full sight of the spring, answering, "Not really, but I prefer to let people know someone else is in the area rather than surprise them. Some things just aren't for another's eyes." Having given it some thought earlier she could give quiet a few reasons why 'sneaking around' at the springs wasn't a good thing, especially if it was a fairy that thought it was alone. Because of how low in the water Darrion sat her eyes almost missed him, the hat being what caught her eye. She thought it curious that he only had his head above the water so rather than just join him, she asked, "Do you mind if I join you?"

[Hunter]

Darrion was momentarily confused before feeling his ears turn red, realizing what she must've meant by the remark but still puzzled by it nonetheless. He quickly looked away for the time being, but that wasn't the last he heard from her. Blinking at her, he was a bit slow to respond -- he thought it was kind of an odd request, considering where they were, asking if she could join him as if he were sitting a table somewhere, but he was too warm to move from this spot and too relaxed to be fussed about it.

The drake rubbed his arms and finally answered, "Uhh... yeah. I mean, no. I mean, whatever you want, really." He shrugged, not cognizant of the fact that he was raising his scaled shoulders out of the water as he did so. Wet and slick, they gleamed from the day's sunlight, dappled by the shadows of the leaves overhead.

[azure]

Aria thought Darrion seemed confused about something she'd said, but wasn't sure what it would have been, unless it was her remark about some things not being for another's eyes. Had she been to cryptic with it? Maybe, but she hadn't wanted to be too blunt about it. He seemed confused on how to answer her question too as he seemed to stumble over his answer. The glimmering light off the wet iridescent scales on his shoulders caught her attention. He's a drake, she realized as she looked at his shoulders, then glanced to his hat that was surely hiding his feathery crest. She turned around to face the way she came before she realized that, at least this drake wasn't the monster most made them out to be. Or at least she hoped not as he'd made no move to hurt her yet. Taking a deep breath, Arianna unzipped her coat and took it off, revealing her modest light blue one piece, and hung the coat on a branch as she kicked off her shoes and socks, then took off her pants to reveal the black swim skirt that came halfway down her thighs, revealing the tan lines that were just below where the skirt ended. She hung the pants over her coat carefully and set her shoes on a rock, with her socks inside them before turning back to Darrion. In the short time it took to strip to her swimsuit she'd gotten over most of her shock and decided to see how this would play out.

She took the few steps to the edge of the spring and carefully stepped in, glad for the warmth it brought. Settling in she said, "Thanks, I'm Arianna." She liked the quiet around the springs so she didn't want to fill the silence with too much chatter, unless he wanted to.

[raze]

Khaos was cold. It had been awhile since she had been to hot springs of any kind. She flew part of the way there, but that didn't stop the biting cold, and her wings were starting to hurt from the lack of heat. She undressed a short ways away and wrapped herself up with a towel. She walked a little ways further before she kicked her boots and socks off.

Khaos heard conversation as she got closer. Before she jumped in, she decided she would announce herself. "I'm coming in." She yelled, she set her stuff down and stepped in, dunked her head in before she settled herself and her young body against the side before seeing an increasingly familiar face. " Hey, Arianna. Fancy seeing you hear." Then she saw a new face. " Hi I'm Khaos, Khaos Subburnae."

[Hunter]

Although Arianna didn't ask him anything, the fact that she'd introduced herself made it seem like there was an obligation for him to do the same -- and Darrion hadn't asked to get acquainted with the woman. He was a little bewildered by her extroversion, if you could even call it that, but before he could even make an answer to her, another young woman had joined them.

"A fiend," he gasped, quietly under his breath. Her wings were huge, and consequently, his eyes were as well. Darrion tried to get over his shock as he sent her a confused look, asking, "Aren't you a little young to be here without an adult?" He wasn't sure how this particular part of the springs had suddenly become a congregating spot for outgoing girls -- this had to be one of his weirder dreams.

[azure]

Surprise was written all over Aria's face at Khaos's warning, but it was quickly replaced with a smile as the fuzzy came into sight. Aria brushed her hair back with her hands and said, "Hey Khaos, I could say the same for you. We keep running into each other like this I may as well offer for you to stay at my place. What brought you out this direction anyways?" She hadn't realized that Khaos even knew about the hot springs yet. As she understood things Khaos had only come to town a few days ago. Oh well, maybe she over heard someone talk about it or something.

[raze]

Khaos outright laughed at the drakes comment. "Finally, someone notices. Most people call me 'Fuzzy' or 'Furry'. I'm a freaking Succubus. To answer yer question. Technically I'm looking at 2 'adults'," Khaos said "adults" with the her fingers in quotation marks, "in front of me. Not that I need one. I'm seventeen, been living on my own for five years and have my own cd. I think I'm ok." Then she turned back Arianna. " Is that a proposal or are ya just curious?" Khaos asked with a mischievous grin on her face. Not that it often left her face. "As for the other one, I heard a birdie say something about a Hot Spring in the area, so, naturally, curiosity got to this kitty."

[Hunter]

Darrion was already a little weirded out by his company, but the face he pulled when she called herself a succubus was something else altogether. She couldn't have been more than, what, fourteen? That was no age for a little girl to be declaring herself a sex demon. He'd sooner believe she was a fairy in disguise, trying to give mammalian volants a bad name.

Darrion threw up his hands, the scales on them facing his way. "I'm nobody's guardian here," he answered gruffly, taking a step back. Maybe he counted as an adult, legally, but he didn't feel like it. "You get some fool notion into your head to jump off something and break your neck, I ain't responsible."

[azure]

Aria raised an eyebrow at Khaos's response as she replied, "You always this willing to hook up with whoever offers you a place? Nevermind, I'm not sure I want to know. In any case I came to relax." She sank a little lower so that the water came up over her shoulders and she closed her eyes for emphasis, then opened one eye at Khaos and added, "You might want to chill a bit or this adult just might boot you out, and I doubt I'd have much argument from the locals." She was pretty sure her 'request' would fall on deaf ears, but she really hoped that things would quiet down enough that she could enjoy the sounds of nature.

[raze]

" I didn't call you one Drako, so don't go getting funny ideas about being my parent. I actually came too relieve some tight muscles, ya know." Khaos said winking at him. " And as for you, country girl," she said going back to her nickname for Arianna, "I actually normally make people beg before I stay with them, but seems how you were so insistent and nice, I think I might forego that particular part." She said almost laughing at the image it could conjure up. The she settled into the water a bit more ,and laid her head back against the rocks behind her, and closed her eyes, letting the water do it's job.

[Hunter]

..."Drako"? Putting aside the tackiness of that -- how did she know he was a drake? Indignant, Darrion blew a terse breath of air through his nose, sending out a few sparks with it. Between that and the suggestive wink, miss jailbait over here could have the place to herself. The man drew himself up to his full height -- which wasn't much, but still taller than they were -- and pulled himself out of the water, slogging against its resistance. Apparently the fiend already knew, so there was no point in hiding them -- dappling his shoulders, back, and arms, his scales shone a bright, iridescent green as they were exposed to the cold air. His sagging swim trunks clinging to his legs, he scooped up his towel from the ground and wrapped himself up to start getting dry. "I'll just leave you two to yourselves, if you don't mind," he muttered under his breath.

[azure]

Aria murmured after the drake, "Hope we aren't chasing you out." She knew she sounded like an extrovert, but part of that was just good manners her parents had pressed upon her growing up. She leaned back and let her arms rest on the rocks along the edge of the spring to help keep her from getting too warm in the hot water and didn't notice that her fingers began to tap out the song she'd been working on lately. It started out classical and worked it's way to a peak that would jump to pop, but she was having trouble with a section shortly after the transition. She was so caught up in the song that she had forgot that Khaos was still there.