Steam Baths

Tendrils of steam seem to permeate every inch of this small cavern, blurring it into hazy lines that occasionally sharpen with one of the downdrafts from the many tunnels. Low pine benches curl around the natural formations of the cave wall, separated here and there by towering shelves. Crowded with numerous piles of fluffy towels, the shelves seem to reach from the floor to the ceiling, the middle shelf usually reserved for brightly glazed soapsand jars. The triumvirate of bubbling pools lies roughly in the center -- one too small for anything but laundry, the second barely large enough for three people, whilst the third can easily accommodate a fairly large group. The two larger pools are exactly the right depth to sit in comfortably, and just under the surface of the water ledges have been carved from the stone for just this purpose. Partially lidded glowbaskets circle the room, placed here and there so as to provide light, but not be glaring and intrusive when relaxation, from the chores and duties of the day, is needed. The cooler air swirls around the tunnel back to the main cave system. Contents:

T'las Obvious exits: Salt Caves

T'las is floating on the top of the water, with his head barely resting on the edge of the pool, eyes closed and hands sprawled out in the water. Ahhh, relaxing.

Eireann enters with a rather dark looking scowl upon her features--sandals scuffing across the floor as she heads to one side of the cavern. "BOO!" she shouts, coming around to lean ever so slightly over the edge of one pool, making her torso and head block T'las' line of vision should he open his eyes.

T'las promptly sinks into the water and starts choking and stuff. Why must everyone do that? "WHo did that?" he shouts as he stands up, wiping at his eyes before he opens them, muttering.

Success! Eireann promptly doubles over with laughter, dropping down to her knees on the wet cavern floor. "I did it." she says with a grin, stating the glaringly obvious for him. "And it was fun too." She chokes down another string of laughter--gathering herself up to trot across to another pool. "Having fun?"

T'las mutters some more as he sees who it is. "I -was- until a certain candidate decided she could yell at me and get me to drown." grump. Now he's all flustered and awake. The opposite of being relaxed. "What are you doing here?" Besides the glaringly obvious fact of taking a bath.

Eireann rolls her eyes in an amused manner at T'las, sending a look at him over her shoulder as she starts to undress. "What do you think I'm doing? I'm about to zip around the cavern like a firelizard and shower you with sweets." Another laugh escapes her lips, and she starts dropping each piece of her clothing into a large basket already filled to it's brim with dirty laundry. "I'm going to take a bath."

T'las raises an eyebrow at the snappy response and smiles a bit. "Any reason you are taking one =now-? Candidate chores have you doing some dirty work, and your fingernails are dirty perhaps?"

Eireann lifts both hands, splaying her fingers out. "My nails aren't dirty. I wore gloves." She explains, buffing her nails on her stomach with a grin. "And yes, definetly dirty work. Haven't you realized how much extra time the drudges have on their hands now that they don't have to clean latrines?" It's just a simple comment, and she plops down on the edge of T'las' pool, dipping just her feet in for now.

T'las blinks in non-comprehension. "Why wouldn't they have to clean latrines?" he asks curiously, sinking up to his chest in the water. "They aren't going to start stinking, are they?"

"Because V'tali told them they didn't have to?" Eireann tells him with a wry grin--right before another scowl settles across her features. "But no, they're not going to start /stinking/ exactly. They'lk sparkle. Because I have to make them sparkle." And *then* she slips into the water, letting her head sink beneath the surface.

T'las blinks again, then starts chuckling, waiting for her head to come back up. "So, this poor little candidate did something wrong to warrant latrine duty for an extended amount of time, eh? Do tell."

Jachin walks over from the Salt Caves. Jachin has arrived

Eireann pops her head back up with a big *sploooosh* of water, flicking her hair about and sending a tiny spray of droplets towards T'las. "I didn't do anything wrong. It's all N'all's fault anyway." She swims backwards to rest against the edge of the pool she and T'las are currently in.

Jachin stinks...be warned. He's mucky and dirty and smelly and grubby and...well. You get the picture. He skirts the sounds of splashing, moving to the next pool over so those already there don't have to put up with his filth, "Hello, there!" is called into the steam however, muffled somewhat by his dragging his shirt overhead.

"RIiiiiight," T'las mutters, smiling. "It's all the weyrlingmasters fault, eh? Why don't you tell me what N'all...'did'?" he asks nicely, sending a wave at Jachin. "Hello, another dirty candidate."

Wiebke walks over from the Salt Caves. Wiebke has arrived.

Stinks isn't strong enough of a word. Atleast not once Wiebke joins the crowd in the baths, waving nervously to all those there. A bath seems good, but is it worth assulting all these poor people with the stink of mucking duty>

"It /is/ his fault actually. I know you don't believe me. None of you riders do." Eireann pouts her bottom lip out at T'las, features pulling into a pitiful look at him. "He was the one that started shouting his mouth off for no reason." Arms cross together beneath her chest, and she just /scowls/ at the other two entering. She stinks a good deal more than them. Latrines are the root of all evil.

Jachin is stripped and in the pool before you can say 'spit', sighing as the water covers a bit of the stench. Ears perk as he overhears Eireann, and he grins, even as he reaches for the sweetsand "I don't believe you either. Knowing your particular habits for doing naughty things, Rea..." So there. "What did you give N'all a chance to yell at you about?"

Wiebke rolls her eyes at Eireann's complaint. "Oh... latrines aren't all bad.... atleast once they're done, they're done." No self-renewing messes, atleast not at the rate of those pesky herdbeasts.... "And I know...." Stripping off disgusting clothes, she slips into the water, turning around to carefully push them away from the water's edge, watching the dirt float away from her body with interest.

"I don't think you realize just how bad latrines are when you have to make them /sparkle/." Eireann states with a a blank look at Wiebke. "And besides, all the drudges have been excused from /that/ particular chore so I'm on my own. For /two/ sevendays." She reaches for a pot of sweetsand, scooping out a rather large handful and lathering it up. With a glance over at Jachin, she rolls her eyes in one of those manners that /might/ say she's amused--but likely just means she's not in the mood. "I don't do anything naughty. It's not my fault you can't help stare at my toosh. Plus, I didn't do /anything/ to make N'all yell at me. He did it all himself."

T'las chuckles quietly. "Please, no one has N'all yell at them for no reason. He wouldn't a good weyrlingmaster if he did that. What did you do? Tease him? Make a crack comment about some weyrlings? Something about chores? YOu did something..."

Jachin snorts at Eireann again, though gives a wave to T'las before going back to scrubbing his body clean of horrible things. "We've had this argument. You are the one who peeks in the barracks, remember? I told you...I don't stare at little girls." Ew. What a thought. "And I bet you anything you did something to get N'all mad at you. He's scary, but only if you cross him." Like say, V'tali in a drunken state. He nods at T'las as he echoes the roders thoughts. Wiebke gets a smile. "I'm feeling better already..you?"

Wiebke quickly clamps a hand over her mouth, trying to prevent the laughter from escaping, as well as a nasty comeback. Oh, she knows... she knows. Eyeing the others, she shakes her head slowly, reaching for some sweetsand to start working on her hair and any stray bits of herdbeast mess stuck in it. "Feeling much better already..." She's not gonna comment on the rest, she's yet to experience N'all's wrath... and she'd like to keep it that way.

Eireann continues lathering up her handful of sweetsand, and starts scrubbing furiously at her limbs as she speaks. A /glare/ is sent to Jachin. "I am -not- a little girl. You better be careful or I'll whack you like I did to ahh.." and with a look to T'las, she decides to keep her mouth shut lest she embarass the poor man. "He starts mouthing off about everything and Jesika just /looked/ at him so he practically jumped down her throat. So I told him he was rude. Nothing wrong with that."

Jachin laughs. "You did do something to make N'all yell at you!" he chortles gleefully. "I knew it!" And my, isn't he impressed iwth himself. He submerges, beginning to scrub sweetsand into his hair for the first time, still grinning. "And you are a little girl..at least you act like one." snapping peoples' butts with towels and all....

T'las snorts. He sees plenty wrong with that. "Candidates don't tell weyrlingmasters they are rude." Blunt as a blunt can be. "Candidates don't tell any ranking rider they are rude. That's one sure way to get latrine duty, as you have now experienced." No no, not going to comment on the toosh-looking at all.

"I didn't do a thing. N'all did it all because he was in a bad mood. If /he/ hadn't started yelling at people here there and everywhere.. I wouldn't have said anything and all would be well." Eireann finishes scrubbing her body, and starts on her hair several strands at a time. "And if I'm a little girl--then your a little boy." That last is directed to Jachin.

Jachin grins at Eireann "Hey....I've learned my lesson in that respect too. You don't talk back to riders, especially ones with rank." he agrees with T'las on that one. "And I'm not a little boy....I'm not the one whining like a child, after all." No, that would be Eireann. "But you aren't a little girl either, I suppose, else the dragons wouldn't have searched you." He does concede that point, but...well, she's acting like one.

T'las smiles at Jachin. He knows what he's talking about. "Thank you. That's what I mean. That goes for -hitting- riders as well. WIth buckets. FUll of spiderclaws."

"Someone hit you with a bucket full of spiderclaws T'las?" Eireann asks, turning an altogether /innocent/ look on the bluerider with a fluttering of water-clogged lashes. "You must have deserved it." She dips beneath the surface--sinking lower and lower as she rinses her hair of the sweetsand suds.

Jachin chuckles wryly....aye, T'las does know...part of it. "Well, I'd say latrines was getting off lightly actually hitting a rider with something." All Jachin did was accidentally ruin a shirt. He, too, ducks other to rinse, only to lather again once he's up again. "But either way....this chore business is getting a bit old."

T'las grins at the boy. "Just wait until weyrling hood. It's all mucking, laundry, and oiling and feeding for the first weeks." A real fun and joy. "And yes, she did get off lightly. She's lucky I'm not one of those grouchy wingleaders that takes offense easily." Otherwise she might've been asked to leave.

"I already offered to go home if that's what everybody wants." Eireann states, scrubbing her face free of any remaining dirt. "Now, if you'll both excuse me.. I'm off to find someone /nice/ to talk with." And with that, she slips out of the pool, yanks a towel from the shelf and wraps it snug around her body before racing out just like that.