prompt
Prompt 8: It's important to take care of yourself in the winter months, especially with the dry, cold air Destiny City has been seeing. A warm bubble bath might be just what you need to stay warm and treat yourself; a local shop has a Seasonal Special--'Marshmallow Dreams' and they seem to be highly recommended and have become a hot item in Destiny City. Somehow, you've acquired one of these bath bombs, and it smells divine. Everything is going well; the bath bomb seems to be dissolving normally--and then all of a sudden, fluffy, plush bubbles seem to emerge and grow, and get denser--and all of a sudden, you are sitting in a bathtub full of what feels like warm marshmallows. It feels a bit heavy, like a weighted blanket, but it's warm and smooth and nice. Except, it's also a little restricting and is incredibly hard to move in. You wind up trapped in a tub full of smooth marshmallow fluff for nearly half an hour before it begins to completely dissolve and pop like bubbles--leaving your skin feeling magnificently smooth and fragrant. It's the perfect way to trap someone in the bath for half an hour, though arguably it's far less relaxing if you don't know what's going to happen before getting in.
"Lord. You look a little worse every time I see you."
Basyl choked on an uncomfortable laugh as one of his coworkers at the coffee shop stripped off her apron and tossed it in his direction. Bernadetta had a teasing smile on her face, obviously not trying to ruffle his feathers, but Basyl could hardly argue with her sentiment.
He was starting to feel worse and worse each week.
He'd thought it was just some residual effects of sleepless, anxious nights spent in the village during the fall, but it hadn't lightened up yet. Maybe it was just stress. His medical licensing exam was in just a handful of months, and he'd been accepted into a residency program at the hospital, pending he passed the exam, of course. So that part of his life was suddenly becoming very real and very pronounced.
Basyl was tired. But he was always tired, and it had never culminated in prolonged dizziness and headaches and general mental sluggishness before. He'd wondered if he should even come to work tonight...
Except he still needed the money. He wasn't a doctor, yet, and his shift at the coffee shop was always relatively easy, hence why the rest of his coworkers were cleaning up and preparing to head out. Basyl worked the late shift by himself, from five in the afternoon to one in the morning, when most of his patrons consisted of overnight superstore workers preparing for the night and tired office parents who were leaving the job, but heading home to take care of their children.
As Basyl took the tossed apron and began to fasten it around his waist, Bernadetta approached him more seriously. "Are you feeling okay, hon?" She asked a bit more gently. "You must be working hard at those classes, huh?"
"Yyyep," Basyl agreed shortly. "I'm fine, I think. I always knew what I was getting into, so that kinda.. uh... helps manage it some." He swallowed, glanced down, and started fumbling to tie his long hair back into a bun. He almost felt guilty for shoving so much of his senshi responsibilities off, but he didn't have time. He just didn't have the time or mental energy...
"Well, just in case you did want to relax a little, I got you something." Basyl's gaze immediately whipped back to her in confusion, large magenta eyes blinking owlishly. "Don't look at me like that. It's nothing big. Just..."
She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a sort of dusty brown orb wrapped in clear plastic. "Here. I saw it at this specialty shop I went to and couldn't help but think of you. Not because I think you're dirty or anything-" Though the way her gaze flashed to the unkempt strands of his hair falling out of the bun made him wonder how true that was. "-but because, well, I don't know, I thought you might need it or something. You know, to like, sit and relax for a while or whatever. Anyway, would you just take it?"
"Oh, uh, you didn't have to get me anything. I-I didn't... get you anything," he grumbled awkwardly as he hesitantly reached for the orb in her outstretched hand.
Bernadetta let him take it without complaint, and she was smiling easily again. "It's fine, hon. I didn't expect you to. I just hoped you'd get some enjoyment out of it, is all. As she stepped from behind the counter and made her way to the door, she tossed a quick wave and a grin over her shoulder. "Merry Christmas! I hope you like it." And then she left, taking the other girl with her and leaving Basyl to tend to the coffee shop alone for the rest of the night.
It was barely past one in the morning as Narcissus stepped through a mirror in the back alley and emerged in his apartment before quickly powering down.
As worried as he was that someone nearby would feel his aura and be able to learn when and where it popped up... it was just too convenient not to teleport himself home. The bus transit took so much longer. It'd be another hour before he made it home if he tried to do it unpowered- which of course he had before, but...
He really didn't want to.
Basyl flopped onto his bed the second it was near enough to do so, and as he landed, the jabbing of an orb into his hip made him squeak in alarm and flop to his other side. He'd crammed that bath bomb into his pocket, and boy was it not a great cushion. As he pulled it out for inspection, he thought maybe it would be nice to rinse the long, long, devastatingly long day off with a warm bath...
He didn't usually take baths, since he didn't have time, but it had been so sweet of Bernadetta to think of him.
He ran the water, undressed, dropped the chocolatey-smelling bomb in, and watched as bubbles bloomed up to coat the surface. It smelled nice... And it was so cold out that the heat of just this room was enough to make some of his now-ever-present headache abate...
Basyl slipped into the water, and bubbles frothed around him, piling up on all sides and clinging to him as if they were eager for his presence. It was kind of strange, wasn't it? He settled backward. The water felt heavier than usual... Everything seemed so dense. He could barely even move. But if he was being perfectly honest, he barely even wanted to. The heavy, all-consuming bubbles blanketed him in warmth and the scent of coco.
Basyl's head dropped against the back of the tub, and he was snoring softly in seconds.
