J'eeta Feevah

[Abarai Loki]

"Since you work here, can't you tell those two to get a room. Or did I misinterpret the intentions behind this bathhouse?"

Loki stiffened, recoiled, even, as he contemplated the implications of Maggie's suggestion.

"Oh," he said.

Even if he wanted to, there'd be no point in asking the couple to 'find a room'. The thought of it forced Loki to disguise an amused smirk. From the sound of it, all the efforts of the amorous couple had finally yielded fruit, and their passion was beginning to cool. They bobbed on the water, smiling at each other, panting. It was enough to make him wonder what in the blasted sky he was doing with his life. He shouldn't be sharing a bath with a huge Trianii, and explaining teahouse etiquette to an attractive woman; he should be sharing a bath with an attracive woman, and laying the etiquette on her. Stars, he was horny.

"In Madame Maillanaarro's teahouse, sexual relations are permitted. Encouraged, even." He smiled, now, entertained by the thought of Maggie's shattered illusions, "I am surprised your friend neglected to mention this."

[Gantuhar]

Gantuhar gave a toothy smile then, his eyes brightening as he swept his gaze from Maggie to the pair of lovers a tub over. Each one had melted back into the water, their bodies still close. He could almost hear that delightful, contented rumble in the female's chest, like a soft, satisfied mrrr. It was an act that he had witnessed many times over from the comfort of his own bath, basking in the sounds of joy and ecstasy. Three tubs back, another couple had begun their own soft moanings that would gradually build in volume and ferocity.

Both arms went up then, in a gesture of praise. Water droplets cascaded off soaking fur, and the Trianii lifted his eyes skyward.

"This is the place of pure emotions, of hungry lust, and insatiable appetites."

His display finished, Gantuhar finally returned his eyes to Maggie. He followed her querry with a glance to his cup, then to the bathwater he currently sat in. And in a moment of lucidity, the Tiranii gave a sigh.

"Bathwater, This One suspects. It tastes well enough, but there's a slight tang to it."

[Maggewetok]

Oops

The surprise was palpable as she stared blankly at Abarai, having no idea what she had gotten herself into, though it wasn't the first time that she had found herself in an awkward situation and had to improvise. Though most of those events weren't with two males staring at her as if she was dinner. Hazel eyes then narrowed as the Trianii then tried to defend his strange appetites.

"Ah," she nodded, knowing now he wasn't going to give up on his opinions and not understand another.

She hadn't come here to be harassed, only to relax and get out of the apartment for a while. Turning her attention back to the human male, she wondered now if he was "entertaining" the large, felinoid alien. Right hand up apologetically, "Sorry for interrupting you two then." Turning back around, she moved to the opposite side of her own tub, using the misty fog rising from the hot water to mask her vainly as she moved to her bath robe.

[Abarai Loki]

The apologetic hand might as well have been a slap to the face. Loki recoiled, horrified.

"What? No, wait! It's not like that! We're not... I'm not..."

But it was too late: Maggie drifted beyond the veil of mist like a pale and glistening ghost. In his frustration, Loki drove a hand into the water, which erupted like a geyser, and scattered in rainbow motes through the air. Silence, then, or thereabouts - the telltale sloshing and moaning from across the room obstructed actual silence, and in a way that was becoming more and more irritating - and, in Maggie's absence, it was a sobering sound. At long last, he fixed Gantuhar with a scolding glance.

"Well done. Your High Priest of the Teahouse routine scared her away, and now she thinks we're... involved​!" Another splash of annoyance, "And will you stop drinking the bath water? It's disgusting!"

[Gantuhar]

High Priest of the Teahouse. What a grand title. It was truly the most wonderful thing anyone had ever said to him, and Gantuhar returned Wexxx-leeee's angry look with a wide-eyed, fascinated stare. As though his awareness had been opened to the possibilities, the Trianii allowed himself a moment to bask in the very notion that there could be a High Priest for the Madame's establishment. He suspected that there might be a position available, but no doubt such a thing would go to a female. As it was, that thought did not stop his chest from swelling in pride even while a slow, wide grin began to form on his lips.

"The High Priest of the Teahouse," he rumbled quietly, letting himself fall back into the water, stars shining in his eyes as he stared up at the glorious ceiling above.

"You work here, Wexxx-leeee. Do you think that the Madame would consider a male High Priest?"

[Maggewetok]

Taking in what little modesty was afforded with the other adjoining tubs and their occupants, Maggie slipped out of the warm water and slipped on her bathrobe, knowing now that she wouldn't be coming back here without a solid purpose. In all honesty, she wouldn't be bringing someone for love to a public place, though she didn't blame those that chose to. Free will and all. Her long, dark hair matted to her back and underneath the comfortable, white robe, she made her way toward the dressing room, hearing the male human try and defend himself from what she thought was going on. Given their surroundings, she only assumed.

Meandering through the host of other elegant tubs and surrounding, marble columns, the Republic agent averted her eyes from other acts going on between the bathhouse's patrons. The sounds were enough to fill in the blanks.

[Abarai Loki]

"You work here, Wexxx-leeee. Do you think that the Madame would consider a male High Priest?"

"What? Are you-" Loki paused long enough to reconsider his approach, and, where his voice once hissed with contempt, it now dripped with a sarcasm that would, undoubtedly, be obvious to all except the would-be High Priest of the Teahouse, "No, actually. Gantuhar, I do not think she will ever consider you to be high priest. Unless..."

In a moment of exquisite inspiration, Loki's gloomy train of thought jumped tracks for pastures greener. Sometimes, that was all it took: a slight shift in perspective to see the sun from the shade. The smile that threatened to surface was drowned, and replaced instead by an expression of deepest concentration. A plan was taking shape in his mind, but before it could truly blossom, he'd first have to draw on his own dubious acting talents. There was a real temptation to lay out the bait in its entirety, like a Cizeri banquet for Gantuhar to gorge himself on, but Loki would show restraint. For, if there was one thing he'd learned from Askajian pornography, it was the greater the tease, the bigger the pay-off.

"...ah, forget it."

[Gantuhar]

Pulling his eyes from the wondrous mosaic above, Gantuhar let his body continue to float as his gaze tracked to Wexxx-leeee. The words that the young man spoke were enough to draw him in, and the Trianii slowly moved. Hands churned just below the water's surface to shift his bulk, and soon enough his head was very nearly resting in his tub-mate's lap. Wide eyes stared up, expectant and excited.

"Yes... ?"

A toothy, happy grin.

"This One is keen to know what you are speaking of, and what chances that Gantuhar might have to secure such a prestigious position."

[Abarai Loki]

So thoroughly had Loki committed himself to his portrayal of a man wholly uninterested in his strange bathing companion, that he failed to notice Gantuhar's advance until it was too late. His eyes bloomed with mortification. There he was, the great Trianii oaf, floating in his lap with all the intimate familiarity of an amorous water nymph.

"Yes," he began, attempting to gather his scattered thoughts, "Well. The role of High Priest is typically reserved for a female in high-standing with the tea house. The Madame herself hand-picks the best candidate for the job. And yet, rare though it is, there are times when an employee might nominate a particularly upstanding patron of the teahouse. In these cases, the Madame will take that nomination into account."

Again, the lofty indifference as he turned his gaze to the ornate ceiling.

"I suppose I could be persuaded to forward your name as a potential candidate... but I'm not wholly convinced..."

[Gantuhar]

As though he was a child being told the most amazing of stories, Gantuhar's eyes were wide as he stared up at Wexxx-leeee, thoughts going every which way to connect so many errant dots. He held those dots carefully and gently, winding strands of mental string through the hole in each one. They were like beads in his mind's eye; beatiful, multi-colored beads that the very act of connecting them together was like making the most beautiful necklace of thought and feeling and understanding.

"This One understands the position you are in... "

One of the dot/beads shone like a bright blue light, swirling with yellows and greens. This one he threaded to another of a deep cherry-grained color. Slowly the Trianii shifted. He left Wexxx-leeee's lap to glide into the center of the bath before turning to face the boy. Wide shoulders squared back, and he blinked owlishly before slowly finding his feat underneath and rising from the water to stand. Mercifully, the waterline began just above a rather critical level of his anatomy.

He wasn't overweight, but he did carry a bit of bulk from so many years. Where once had been a flat belly was now a bit of a gut. His chest was still as wide as it had always been, arms thick with old muscle. He was no model of perfect fitness, but he was still strong despite his age. A passing spacer had once compared him to an old wampa.

Y'got mileage, y'ole cat, but I still ain't pickin' a fight 'cause I know th'strength... it's still there. Ain't stupid, y'know. Yer like a damn old wampa. I know issa old sumbitch, but I ain't lettin' them years fool me.

Those words still made him smile to this day. And standing in the most glorious of baths with his new friend Wexxx-leeee, Gantuhar felt satisfaction.

"There are stars all around, Wexxx-leeee. They are everywhere. Have you tried to catch one? It is not easy. This One has tried many times to catch stars, but they flit away so easily. But maybe now This One can hold on to the star that you have offered."

His head tilted back, eyes wide to drink in the beautiful mosaic tiles above.

"Such beauty in one place can only be attributed to the Allmother and Her Divine touches. She creates beauty wherever She goes, you know. This One wishes to someday lay eyes upon her so that he may offer Her his praises and great love."

[Abarai Loki]

While Gantuhar waxed lyrical about stars and the Allmother, Loki followed his gaze into the heavens, as if he could glean a speck of sense from his bizarre monologue amongst the artwork above.

Nope. Not a blasted clue.

Mystified, he returned his attention to the towering Trianii, with one eyebrow left behind amongst the rafters. Perhaps he required some assistance navigating the sane-insane language barrier. Loki wet his lips, gauging his words like a competitive diver, bracing for the plunge.

"So... what exactly are you saying, Gantuhar?" Then, abandoning all pretence, he kindly suggested, "Are you going to order me a drink, or...?"

[Gantuhar]

Staring to the wonderfully tiles heavens above, the Trianii eventually blinked his eyes slowly, his head ponderously returning downward as his gaze swept of the teahouse's patrons, all in some manner of restful repose or fevered, thrusting pleasures. Eventually his eyes fell on Wexxx-leeee.

"A drink... ?"

Another blink, and Gantuhar turned to face his bath mate fully.

"This One will provide all that he can to allow Wexxx-leeee the best chances to plead a case to the Madame."

And again he sank back down, his bulk displacing the water so that it rose.

"A spiritual drink perhaps? With Kybur rose petals and aged Ithorian jasmine? This One has heard that the Fallanassi enjoyed such drinks, and that they fermented sugars to mix them with. They claimed that such a drink helped them to connect more fully with the White Current."

One hand came up then to wave at the air, sending drops of water and flecks of aromatic herbs about in the process.

"The Force, This One supposes you could call it."

[Abarai Loki]

"I have no interest in connecting more fully with the Force. That sort of thing is for mystics, and monks, and men with too much time on their hands. Now, rose petals... jasmine..." Loki's nose wrinkled as he considered Gantuhar's proposal. After a moment, he shook his head, "That sounds terribly... not me."

An ineloquent choice of words, if ever he heard one. And, if he couldn't understand his own words, what chance did he have for the Trianii jibberish machine to make any sense of them? His shoulders dipped with a sigh. They were at least on the right track - that is, to say, on track to acquiring an alcoholic beverage strong enough to purge the strange reality of his day. What was he doing? What was the point of all this? Had his old life been left behind so he could sneak into perfumed baths with lunatics? Maybe life - normal life - was odd like that. It certainly seemed that way. With grim determination, he sank deeper into the water.

"Something strong. Something... hard. No flowers or fruit. Perhaps we should drink until we forget our own names." He glanced up at Gantuhar, "It may do us both some good."

[Gantuhar]

Strong. Hard. So Wexxx-leeee wanted something of a more... bruising nature? Perhaps the boy was simply exhausted from the shifts he pulled, to want to forget even his own name! It was certainly an unfortunate thing, but Gantuhar could understand the reasoning. He too had done much... forgetting... after his escape from the End of the Stars. He had forgotten much, and had no desire to expend the energy to remember. If memories came back, the did so in their own time.

"Very well," the low rumbling of his voice seemed more subdued as his thoughts raced to think of something acceptable.

Both hands moved beneath the surface to swirl about, sending each bit of the bath's aromatic concoctions into mesmerizing circular paths. Each petal and bit of scented 'dust' wound together, bumped along the top of the water, then came apart to find another wondrously-smelling partner. No two stayed together for any longer than they needed, and their intertwining scents melded together for just the right amount of time before moving onward.

"Perhaps you need a drink from This One's world," there was a flicker of memory; of the old days that held harsh realities that he never dwelled long upon. But, int hose memories was a drink that Wexxx-leeee might just like.

"A... very unique drink. This One could never stomach very much of it, but if the teahouse stocks it, then I would say you should have a glass of Karranii. It is strong. And hard."