Too *^%$ing cold! (Rina, may or may not turn adult-ish)

[Anonymous]

She sounded...pleased. Quietly, for sure, and she may not even have meant to let even that much show, but he'd taken a fair few Connlaothians up north before - exiles mostly, though he'd never say it! - and they'd never taken the news quite like that. Mostly they'd been disgusted, or at best disbelieving.

This was new.

He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Can I ask you something? Privately, never to be mentioned to anyone else?"

She would kill him in five...four...three...

"I think you have a secret. About other women. Am I right?"

[Anonymous]

The metal cup and the rest of her tea flew at Sasha's head and Michael was half standing in the cart, pissed, "What the fuck did you just say?!"

[Anonymous]

Eep. She was steaming.

Sasha ducked hurriedly. The mug sailed over his head and landed with a clatter.

This wasn't exactly a throwaway comment - he'd been wondering since he met her, maybe even before in a more general sense. It was, after all, not much of a secret what soldiers got up to with other men. He'd heard the rumours often enough, and they were strangely consistent. He'd even heard the real deal, once or twice, when he stumbled on a military camp.

 Maybe it wasn't openly discussed, but the whole thing seemed tolerated to an extent, and tacitly understood. Fear of looking weak in front of their beloved made Connlaoth's soldiers stronger.

She was a soldier just as much. It was written all over her, every move she made broadcast the fact that soldiering and battle were burned into her soul like the makers mark on the blade of a sword.

He might have to choose his words carefully here!

"If I'm wrong, tell me so and I'll never mention it again...but you're too practical never to have tried it, or at least considered it. Someone as attuned to their own wants and needs as you are, you know as well as I do that the average man can't find his way around a woman without a map and a sheet of instructions telling him what to do when he gets there. You've wondered, if nothing else, why the rules are different for you as a woman than they are for any other soldier. Men do this together, even in Connlaoth. How many years have you been in uniform, and never had it come up even once for a woman under your command, or for you, or for anyone?"

He wasn't going to touch her. Not unless she wanted it. But he WAS going to find a way to make her look at him properly when she answered.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

[Anonymous]

"You are very wrong! That is unnatural and against Ansgar and I have nothing to do with that." Sasha was right on the money, his wording voicing her own thoughts perfectly, but she wasn't admitting to anything. Not yet and not to him.

[Anonymous]

"All right then. We'll leave it alone."

He strongly suspected she was lying. Doubtless she was a good liar when she had a moment to compose herself, but right now she seemed just a little too flustered. A little too quick, too vehement in denial. Even the really religious ones didn't usually throw things when he told them how things went up here.

Still, if she didn't want to say...it was her business. He'd only been testing a hunch.

"Your lad Ansgar doesn't seem to like the cold much, never really comes up here!"

[Anonymous]

Michael gave a low hiss under her breath, "Sasha. You are not helping. If you don't want me to come beat you to death with something unpleasant, I suggest not reminding me I am going into a land of magic using heathens."

[Anonymous]

"It'd help enormously if you at least didn't call me a heathen, but...okay. Peace?"

As much fun as he was having turning her brain inside out, it might perhaps be time to give it a rest. Getting kicked out of his own tent wasn't an outcome he wanted very much. Sunset might come late in summer, but it was still really fucking cold at night!

Come to think of it, they still hadn't resolved sleeping arrangements. Oh, that would be a world of fun with the mood she was in...

"I think I know something that might make you feel better. We should get to it by tomorrow."

[Anonymous]

"You are a heathen. You've admitted it." Michael huddled closer into her warm fur lined jacket, not enjoying the biting wind. The trip was already turning out to be highly unpleasant and she was getting annoyed with Sasha. Michael didn't enjoying leaving her comfort zone much, "Where are we going?"

[Anonymous]

Sasha smiled.

This, she would like. It was firmly in the luxury camp, and he knew exactly where she stood when it came to life's small luxuries. And there would even be people there - someone was ALWAYS there - so she could get on with her mission if she really wanted to.

"Tell me...have you ever been in a hotpool?"

[Anonymous]

"A hotpool? No, I can't say that I have." She was aware of what one was, but she had never been to one personally. "Is that where we're going?"

[Anonymous]

"If you like. There are always people there, which I figure suits you down to the ground....and it feels pretty amazing too. Best hot bath you'll ever have."

[Anonymous]

"Yes, that sounds useful." If Michael had any idea of what was actually waiting for her, she would have wanted to travel much faster. As it was, she just gave an absent shrug, "I suppose I should let you do most of the asking until I get a better understanding of how things work here."

[Anonymous]

"Nah, just make sure you're polite. They'll respect you as a fellow traveller and as someone's wife. They'll share what they have. It's traditional to offer something when you meet someone on the road, whatever you can spare; they'll treat you well enough if you do that."

Sasha wasn't entirely sure she could do it, but...Mishka was intelligent. She'd figure it out quickly enough. It might be a steep learning curve, but she would get there.

"The main thing is that they don't know who you are and you don't want them to know. No special treatment because you're the Grand High Poobah of the Whatever. No perks."

He turned aside and looked at the sky briefly, smiling as one of her vast dogs wandered off to sniff at an interesting tuft of wet grass. Still light. It would be light for a few more hours yet - it would be nearly midnight before they saw any proper sunset. Idly, he wondered if she knew that.

"We should stop for the night and set up camp. If we want to make good time tomorrow, Maddox
needs a rest."

A thought struck him. "Um...how do you want to do sleeping arrangements? You can have the bed, if you want it?"

[Anonymous]

Michael glanced back behind her at the wagon, "I have no idea what we can offer. What is there to spare?" She glowered a little as Sasha kept talking, "Yes darling. I'm aware I can't announce my position."

She hated not knowing, of being out of her element and her control and Sasha was not helping in a lot of ways, "I would love the bed, thank you." She gave him a bright smile and made no offer to share it with him.

There was the sound of deep barking as her hounds discovered a group of birds who all took to the sky, much to the dogs delight as they ran around, barking and trying to catch the small creatures.

[Anonymous]

Whee, time skip!
-----------------------------------

Oooooargh. His back had not liked last night. He'd been able to bribe the dogs into curling up nearby - they still weren't entirely sure of him, but they were happy enough to occupy the space exactly halfway between the sheltered patch of ground where he'd slept and the bunk inside the cart where Michael had been - and there were ways to set up a windbreak, but still.

Oooargh. He was turning into an old man.

Fortunately, they were nearly at the springs. He could smell the warm waft of them already, and the landscape had long since changed; it was drier now, more rocks, almost a moonscape if not for the stumpy trees that grew in volcanic soil and nowhere else.

The thought of soaking for a while was a beautiful one.

He could hear voices. Someone was always here.

"Shall we?"

[Anonymous]

Sasha still hadn't quite made it back into her good graces. He was a little too...heathen for her at the moment. Michael still couldn't believe she had slept with him once already. She didn't hate mages and she did understand the draw of their abilities. But that was lead the world to ruin.

But the prospect of a hot bath appealed to her. She cocked her head, one hand absently stroking a soft dog head, "What's that smell? Is that the baths?"

[Anonymous]

"It is. Are you up for a good bath?"

Hot pools definitely had a smell. It wasn't an unpleasant smell - hot and earthy, dense with steam that hadn't yet escaped - but it was definitely there, and it could sometimes take a little while for newcomers to decide whether or not they liked it.

"Shall we?"

He could hear voices. They'd see in a minute what sort of people might go with them.

[Anonymous]

"Lead the way." Michael's nose wrinkled at the smell, but she was getting used to it. Though she wasn't really prepared for it. There were several people there, all totally naked and soaking in the hot springs. Michael always prided herself on her rather risque nature, but this had her face a bright red and trying to not stare at the not all that appealing naked bodies around her.

She shot Sasha a glare, "You didn't tell me everyone got naked together."

[Anonymous]

"Yes? That's sort of what you do in a bath, isn't it?"

He shrugged.

"Don't worry. It's not a sexual thing. It's not even a private thing. No one knows you, so they won't perv on you unless you approach them. I'm probably related to half of these people, and I promise no one would even look twice. It'd be like staring at someone while they ate."

Hmmm. She still looked doubtful. He lowered his voice, pulled her into a hug against his chest; if they were going to play at being married, it wouldn't hurt to give the audience something to believe in. Besides, he could speak much more softly with her so close. If she didn't like it, she'd just have to cope. She could complain later, in private.

"If it makes you feel better...look again. You don't have to strip off."

Maybe she hadn't noticed this bit, but not everyone was entirely naked. Some people had strips of cloth artfully placed, with bundles of herbs tied up in them to steep and help sore muscles; the back, the thighs, old injuries that hadn't quite healed, anywhere that hurt. There were women there - most were old, but there were a few young ones - with their babies splashing happily in shallow corners; a lot of them had draped the same herbs and wet cloth over their breasts.

Granted, it wasn't much. There were a lot more people who WERE stark naked than there were people who weren't. But still, it might help her.

"It's nothing, Mishka. Just...please love, trust me on this one. This is something you will have to do if you want to find your rogue mages. This is where the people go. Unless you want to wait for winter, this is what we do."

[Anonymous]

Michael's eyes darted around, her posture stiff and she gave a small nod. She took a deep breath, steadying herself, though her face was still a vivid red. This was well out of her comfort zone, most of this trip was out of her comfort zone.

"I'm not wearing those stupid plants. I can strip." Bold words she wasn't sure she could back up, but she was relying on raw balls to get her through this and she never back down from a challenge. Before pulling away, she whispered to Sasha, "I don't think I will...be very good at talking. Please..." she couldn't bring herself to say help, not while already feeling so shaken, "assist me."