Watery Echoes

[Anonymous]

River sighed softly and just nodded, bent over a bit and scrubbing furiously at his dirty hair. It was normally such a beautiful, bright blonde, and at the moment it just looked almost... brown. It didn't help that he'd been bathing in lakes and ponds for the last several weeks, and the water there tended to be on the muddy side.

"Thanks, it's fine," he commented, voice a little lighter. He sounded calmer now, perhaps because he was getting clean. "Do you have a towel, by chance?" Turning a bit, he squinted at Vi through his wet bangs, trying to push them from his face.

[Anonymous]

Vi padded over to a cabinet in the far all of the room and opened it, pulling out a large fluffy towel, walking to the edge of the pool of water and handing it to River. "Will this do?" Vi smiled at him. River really was kind of cute.

[Anonymous]

The blonde boy twisted around and stretched out a hand for the towel, though he simply set it aside where it would stay dry until he could finish cleaning up and soaking in the hot spring. "It's fine, thank you." He contemplated asking about food, but... one thing at a time. He didn't like seeming too rude, and River was just bad about asking for things. It made him feel guilty that he had nothing to offer; no money nor skills. He was just a kid by most standards, though he was a little older than he looked.

Settling back into the water, his stomach spoke for him with a loud, plaintive growl. River scowled down at it. Traitor.

[Anonymous]

Vi bit his lower lip to keep form laughing. "I'll go make some sandwiches for lunch. If I'm not in the dining room when you're out of the bath, I'll probably be in my workshop if you need me." Vi headed up the stairs, chuckling to himself.

[Anonymous]

River cast a reproachful look at Vi's retreating back, then sank back down into the water completely. It wouldn't be long before the heat started to make him a little dizzy and he was forced to drag himself out. He retrieved the towel and knelt at the edge of the water, head bowed as he toweled off his pale hair and then the rest of his body... including his still loudly-growling stomach.

[Anonymous]

Vi hummed to himself as he moved around the kitchen, cutting off thick slices of bread and cheese and meat to put together sandwiches for himself and River. He hoped River was alright with meat and cheese, Vi didn't really have much other than that, save for some vegetables and some fruits. Finishing up the sandwiches, Vi left one on a plate on the table for Rivier to find and took his own sandwich back into his workshop.

[Anonymous]

Thankfully the towel was large enough to keep River nice and covered (and somewhat warm, though the beads of water on his skin and his wet hair were likely to give him the chills if he wasn't careful). He still had nothing to wear at the moment, and so had no choice but to venture upstairs and look around for Vi.

At which point, he discovered the sandwich left out for him. He was awfully hungry... Though that meat really had to go. It seemed a bit of a waste, but he took it off the sandwich and settled for what little was left instead, scarfing it down quickly. When one lived on their own and had little money like River did, one had to learn to eat fast so that nothing and no one would come between him and his food!

Once he'd finished off the sandwich, he went in search of Vi, hoping the man would have something he could wear. He peeked into the workshop, towel still pulled tightly around himself.

[Anonymous]

Vi was in the middle of carving what seemed to be an intricate pattern into a table leg< "That you, River?"

[Anonymous]

"Do you have any other guests wandering around and dripping on your floor?" He squinted, craning his head a bit to try and get a look at what Vi was doing. "Um... I don't suppose you have anything else I can wear..." He fidgeted a bit. "I got the shirt you left for me a little wet..." Because he'd forgotten it was there and ended up dripping all over it when ascending the stairs. Oops.

[Anonymous]

Vi paused in his work and turned to face River. "Yeah, hang on." He set down his tools and headed out of the workshop. "Come with me."

[Anonymous]

The blonde huddled a bit, feeling ridiculously small in the huge towel. He padded after Vi obediently, frowning a bit. Well, now he was borring clothes... as soon as his own were clean, he told himself he'd be on his merry way. He hadn't nothing to pay Vi with for his kindness, and River had learned that everyone wanted to be repaid in some way for good deeds...