Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Those are the three cleanest things," answered n'Barit automatically as he reached down to retrieve Kirkcaldy. He was inwardly relieved to finally have some part of himself clean, but he kept up his facade of sharp annoyance. Only Kirkcaldy was able to tell his ire had lessened.

Using the towel as a protective shield between himself and Kirkcaldy, n'Barit scooped the little girl up and held her at arm's length, careful not to let any part of himself actually come into contact with her. "Djee!" went Kirkcaldy in happy excitement, glad they were finally together again. She did everything with him and being left alone on the towel was disconcerting. But instead of cradling her as he usually did, n'Barit just held Kirkcaldy at arm's length, dangling in midair. She looked at him in plain confusion.

"Get my bag and crutch," n'Barit ordered Lixxie. "Where's the bath?"

N'Barit was not a particularly fast walker without his crutch. He had to take a bit more care not to put his foot down at an angle or on a rock. He kept his eyes resolutely on the road, not registering Lixxie's announcement of Grim's departure until a few moments later. Then he responded with, "Good riddance." Meanwhile, all Kirkcaldy could do was squirm uncomfortably and look pleadingly at n'Barit for help, whimpering softly. This weird method of carrying was distressing both on a physical and mental level.

Apparently, n'Barit was too busy being a**l about clean things and watching his step to pay any attention to where they were going. Step-slide, step-slide, he walked straight past the sign reading "Bath House" in florid black letters six inches high as if he didn't see it.

N'Barit stopped short, embarassed. "Of course it is!" he snapped. He was mostly annoyed at himself, but also annoyed at Lixxie for pointing it out. He clomped back to the door and shouldered his way inside, Kirkcaldy looking distressed once more. She was starting to get really tired of today.

"Yes," said n'Barit, not moving from his spot. Could it possibly be that Gaia had ceremonial bathhouses? On Yuul, such establishments were considered a rare and important spiritual luxury, almost temples unto themselves. N'Barit had been to one a few times in the city where he was trained. The preparation of the water was as important as the actual cleansing ritual, with stages of boiling and cooling and lighting. Establishments employed Tuulani who didn't make the barrigater cut, if they were lucky enough to have applicable skills. N'Barit had been offered a lucrative position at one shortly before his graduation. Of course, for him, the only path he would consider had been that of a barrigater. If he had gone for the job in the bath house, things would have ended so differently.

N'Barit was forced to shake himself of the notion. This was Gaia, a human world. He'd be lucky if the water wasn't heavily chlorinated. Stupid cheap shortcut to purification! Lazy Gaians! Lazy humans!

Kirkcaldy started to make a face. Not only was she still ridiculously uncomfortable and being held like she was diseased or radioactive, the banana she had eaten earlier that day was nearing the exit. This was quickly becoming her worst day ever. "Nngh!" she squeaked, a noise very familiar to n'Barit, who silently swore. What the heck was he supposed to do? They were inside a bath house! Not the place for that sort of thing!

"What are you doing?" snapped n'Barit, not about to leave this nameless stranger alone with his things. "Get up! And don't put my stuff down on some grimy floor again!" He could just as easily have added something derogatory at the end, or called Lixxie a servant.

As if n'Barit's demand were the breaking point, Kirkcaldy's face screwed into a look of upset, about ten seconds away from crying. Come on, thought n'Barit, just a few minutes more! Kirkcaldy's answer seemed to clearly be "no" and there was nothing she could do about it.

It took n'Barit a moment to realize the attendant meant Kirkcaldy and not Lixxie. "What? No!" he exclaimed, horrified. To think of anyone separating him from his precious Kirkcaldy was unbearable. There was no telling what they might do to her out of his sight. "She stays with me."

Picking a spot by the bath, n'Barit put Kirkcaldy down on the floor. She sniffled at him miserably. "Tcccch," he soothed, and clucked his tongue against the inside of his teeth twice. "Just a little while longer." He put his hand into the bath as if testing the water temperature and closed his eyes.

Scalding or freezing, it mattered not to n'Barit. His brow furrowed with intense concentration and he grunted and ground his teeth together until he found the point he was searching for. Then he unclenched his teeth and said quite clearly: "The third is light. The second is air. The first is water."

There was a strange sort of flash in the water, a brief white glow, and at the same time the two circular markings on n'Barit's left cheek glowed. It lasted merely a moment, but it was undeniably real.

It was followed by something even odder. N'Barit smiled broadly, looking genuinely happy, and promptly shook off his prosthetic leg. It landed with a clatter on the floor, boot and all, and n'Barit went the other direction, falling gracefully into the full bath with barely a splash, clothes and all.