(Kit)
“You want me to keep an eye out for you while you’re bathing? Sure, I don’t see why not.” I nodded and smiled at her, glad she understood. I led her to Rory and “told” him where we were going; then I gathered clean clothes, and the items I would need for washing. He glanced at me briefly and nodded, telling us to be careful; Saris was still gone, and Shade and Talon were occupied with their own tasks. We were halfway to the lake when Livia made an odd request. "You know, if you like, I wouldn't particularly mind helping you wash up. We could take turns,” giving me a smile.
I gave a small shake of my head, gesturing* to her. It would not make much sense for both of us to bathe at the same time, since one of us had to stand guard. She led me to the lake, and I started disrobing, making sure she was keeping a lookout. I wasn’t really a prude, but I didn’t want the whole world watching me bathe.
I undressed, throwing my dirty clothes down next my clean clothes. I would worry about cleaning them later. Taking my shampoo and soap, I entered the water; shit it was cold! I dunked under and began my ablutions.
*Gestures Kit makes to Livia along with shake of head: Points to herself with bathing gestures, and to Livia with “guard” gestures.
(Livia)
Kit just shook her head, pointed to herself and did her bathing gestures, then pointed to me and did her guard pose. I shrugged it off, assuming she misunderstood me, but I wasn't going to press the issue right now. Seemed she really wanted to make sure that someone was keeping an eye out and I suppose I couldn't blame her. Never really could be sure who was out there. When we reached the lake, I turned around as Kit got ready to bathe, looking through the trees as best I really could. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to take a quick look behind me, though.
It was a few moments before I heard her wade into the water, then a pair of splashes, so I turned my head around to see that it looked like Kit was starting to wash herself up with what looked like soap and shampoo. Wasn't sure what kind, but then, that wasn't really on my mind as I started to imagine helping her working the soap into a lather.
I shook the image from my mind and went back to looking around to see if anyone or anything was nearby- didn't need to distract myself any more than I already was, though I supposed that if things went the way I'd hoped, it'd be more memory than imagining. Looking around for a while longer, it didn't seem like there was much in the area. I thought I saw a deer or something like that, but it was gone faster than I could focus on it, so that left me wondering.
At least, for a few moments. I hadn't heard much from Kit (which, in all fairness, was probably to be expected at this point), so I looked back at her and saw that it looked like she was finishing up, splashing water over her body to wash off the soap. I figured it couldn't hurt to keep an eye on her for a few moments, so I took the time to get a good look at what I could see. Her back was to me and she was waist deep in the water, which meant that I didn't see as much I might like, but I still enjoyed it all the same. Her outfit had seemed to hide her figure rather well, but now I could see that she was slender and somewhat toned, which made sense considering her skills according to Rory. As I looked, my imagination did its best to fill in the blanks, and I found myself biting the inside of my lip at the image.
When she dunked her head under the water, I broke myself out of my little daydream and looked back towards the forest- I didn't exactly know how she'd react if she saw me staring at her, so better to play it safe. Though, I probably shouldn't have been staring in the first place. That's when I realized I hadn't gotten any soap or shampoo to use for myself before we'd left Jader. I cursed under my breath as I wondered if Kit would mind allowing me to borrow hers.
(Kit)
I finished up, and was now a bit loathe to leave the water. Now, instead of the water being cold, the air was. I splashed out, shivering at the cold air, hurriedly grabbing my towel and beginning to dry myself off. Livia offered to dry my back; I figured why not, wouldn’t hurt, while she did, I could watch the forest.
(Livia)
I heard Kit splashing out of the water followed by a chattering sound. That's when I noticed the chill in the air, so I figured she was cold. As I turned around, I saw her shivering, so I took the towel from her and began rubbing her back vigorously to help her warm up. I turned her and started with her shoulders, moving her hair out of the way, while trying to ignore the less than innocent thoughts running through my mind; I wanted to get her dry as quick as possible, since the chill in the air wasn't exactly great for her at the moment. I moved down her back, drying her sides a couple times to make sure that I didn't miss anything.
When I moved past her lower back to her hips, I found myself distracted by her rather shapely buttocks; I slowed down the drying around her hips as I took in the view. I bit my lip at the sight before my hands slowly moved towards her cheeks.
I felt Kit stiffen, and she turned slowly. I got my hopes up that something would happen, until I saw her face. She smiled quietly at me, shook her head, and removed my hands from where they lay on her hips.
I backed off and held the towel out so she could finish drying herself off, saying, "Ok, I can take a hint. Sorry." I couldn't say I wasn't disappointed, but if she wasn't interested, then that was that.
(Kit)
Maker it’s cold! I felt my teeth chatter as I ran out of the water, grabbing my towel and starting to dry myself. I guess Livia realized how cold I was; she grabbed the towel and, turning me around, began to dry my back energetically. I began to warm up, and became aware of the slower movements as her hands, using the towel, moved slower as they descended to my hips. I felt her fingertips progress towards my rear end, and it hit me. Rory had explained how two women (or two men), could love each other as a man and woman; was this what Livia wanted? Her and me?
I stiffened, and turned to her. I was not that type of woman, my heart belonged to Rory. I smiled at Livia, and shook my head as I removed her hands from my body. She immediately understood; she handed me my towel and apologized.
I finished toweling off, and dressed. I pointed to her, the lake, and made washing motions, indicating it was her turn to get cleaned up.
(Livia)
Once she finished drying off and dressed, she made a series of gestures that told me it was my turn. I looked over and slipped off my coat before remembering I didn't have any soap or shampoo - Kit's being on the ground near her previous set of clothes. I looked back at her and asked if I could use hers, explaining that I hadn't gotten any of my own before we'd left Jader and she nodded with a smile. I went over and set my jacket down nearby and slipped off the rest of my clothes, then grabbed the soap and shampoo before wading into the lake.
I may have still been a bit worked up from before (which, in all fairness, was my own damn fault for making assumptions), but the chill of the water and the air quickly corrected that. I shuddered as I made my way into the lake, doing my best to adjust to the change in temperature, until I was up to my waist. I ducked under the water for a moment and immediately regretted it, but I ignored it and washed myself as quickly as I could. Didn't want to be in the water any longer than I needed to, and if I did end up missing anything, I could always get a proper bath in Halamshiral after we were done with this job.
It wasn't the most enjoyable bath I've had, but it did the job, and once I was finished, I found myself in a bit of a rush to get out of the water and back into my clothes. I grabbed the towel and dried myself off as quickly as I could, then slipped back into my clothes and buttoned my jacket back up. I grabbed Kit's clothes for her and wrapped them around her soap and shampoo before telling her I was ready to head back.
(Kit)
Livia made short work of her bath. I definitely understood; it was chilly, both water and air once you got out. She dried and dressed herself quickly, and returned my shampoo and soap to me, wrapped in my dirty clothes. She said she was ready to head back, which we did.
It did not take long to return to camp. Saris had returned from where ever he had disappeared to. Shade and Rory were here, but where was Talon?