[Aquillar Hot Springs] Of Friends and Tranquility (Open)

[Shai]

“I will admit to a tumble but not all what you are thinking Zandelia. And I need something to use against him, not something to seduce him.” Shai was still a little bit touchy about the subject and replied brusquely as a side effect. She considered the last question for a couple of moments. She mostly tried to ignore first the insinuation that she wanted Antar but then also that she wasn’t the type of woman. Curious, I’m not sure which offends me more; that a human would find me unattractive or that I might petch one . Shai shoved the strange contradiction from her mind for a different time and answered studiously. “I know that men like women, wine, and money. Just as I said earlier, but each has varied values that allow him to obtain these three things through different tactics also some men value one of the three over the other. “ Shai suspected that is was not quite the answer Zandelia was looking for but it did strictly answer the question and so Shai let it sit. But Zandelia had given her a piece of very useful information in between in her queries. Shai momentarily eyed her friends form, if it’s wenches he likes I’d wager she could pass. “Zandelia, I need your help. I need something he has, but he is the one who is making me take it. Can you help me by distracting him?” Before Shai could really elaborate she saw the men returning and wasn’t entirely sure if they should know about the situation yet. So she gave a quieting sign to Zandelia and motioned towards the men approaching.

Shai waved to Zenai and Eridanus. She had been wondering where they got off too. It was time for her acquaintances to come in handy. Perhaps they knew Antar as well, the more sources of information the better. Before she could really even greet them she saw the very man in question, with Bob? That was unfortunate she had hoped Bob would assist her. Shai’s eyes widened as she realized what Antar intended and she looked away to avoid the splash. Shai didn’t even take a moment to wonder why Bob had been thrown, the answer was clear Antar was a brute. Maybe this meant that Bob would help her after all. Shai pushed off the wall and went to retrieve Bob. She helped the little man up and made sure his vital functions were all working properly. If he tried to be handsy with her she would swat him harmlessly.

Then as quickly as she had gotten there Shai headed back for her spot. Only to encounter another splash, this one wasn’t nearly as big but she found it to be infinitely more irritating because its source was that man she needed to steal from. She almost ignored him but changed her mind at the last moment and adjusted her course to skirt by him on her path back to her spot. She slipped by him on his right side but never went for the coin. She held a small smile for her companions, a woman having a happy get-together with her friends. “Zenai, Eridanus, So glad you found us!” She called out to the men before she was really even past Antar. She turned slightly to regard the male rogue. As she turned her head towards him her smile turned decidedly malicious. So it was very peculiar when the malevolent gaze released a greeting in the same tone as when Shai had spoken to Zenai and Eridanus. “And Antar, it has been far too long! Please join us.” She had angled her head just so that none of her companions could see the cruel twist of features she meant for him. Bob might have been able to see it but she was careful not to let the rest of them in to the secret. Her stance did visibly tense when she addressed him but that was the best signifier she let slip.

Turning back to the group her features returned to gently content. Shai took her place by Zandelia and began to converse genially. “So how is everyone on this fine evening? This was a great idea Zenai, thank you for inviting me.” It was difficult for her to keep her composure at first the loincloth was all together more indecent than she liked to present herself, but eventually she began to get comfortable in the setting. “Sorry for running off without answering you Zenai. Of course you are not interrupting we were simply talking as women do; in short just gossiping. This is a farewell party? Who are we losing?” Shai managed to sound genuinely disappointed, the loss of one acquaintance was always a nuisance.

[Antar]

Antar smiled a little as he saw the flash of distemper upon Shai’s face as she spoke to him. A far cry from the distress her eyes had shown before. As if she was daring him to play a game… and oh how he really wanted to play. With a little wink in Zandelia’s direction he waded through the water to approach them both. Placing one hand over his mouth a little in mock embarrassment he shyly uttered the next sentence complimenting his acting job by a show of placing his hands behind his back as he fidgeted a little. "Oh my, so you were just talking about things. You know - girl talk. What you liked and didn't and all that?” It was an act of course, and it was hard to keep the mirth out of his voice as he changed it to a peppy little tone halfway through. “I love girl talk! Can I join?"

Taking a bold initiative he noted a tensing of Shai’s body, and the slight space she created between the two girls Noth boldly made his move. Sliding between them he stretched his arms out wide, his right arm encircling Zandelia’s shoulder with the coin in hand. It glinted a little in the lantern lights which surrounded the springs area, properly placed that it might catch shai’s eye as the roguish debonair smiled widely, but from the left corner of his mouth a small smirk was present just for Shai’s view as he began talking like one of the gaggling gooses you’d see at the markets. Like a few of the vantha girls he had heard back in Avanthal who could gossip at over a hundred miles a chime.

"Okay there, gals, I'm up for some chit chat. Now let's see... What do I like in a man? Oooooh I know. They have to have to be... well big you know, broad shouldered types and most importantly." He paused momentarily to lean left, letting his breath tease the lobes of Shai’s ear as he began to whisper loud enough for Zandelia to catch a few choice details.

Meanwhile under the water's surface, he primly crossed one leg over the other and used the faint touch of his toe to make a small gentle stroke down the symenestra's thigh, down over the soft skin behind the knee before letting the faint caress trail down her calve muscle in a manner that no other might see. His voice seemed to hold that peculiar, and enchantingly distinct bit of hushed secrecy that many gossiping women perfected as an art form.

The topic was something that was so debauched and probably biologically impossible in her ear to do at the same time without breaking something, and he said it just to see if he could make her blush for the rather… detailed descriptions of certain … techniques. He knew he was asking for trouble by doing this but there was a certain draw of being tenacious here with a symenestran woman that probably wanted to kill him. Her antics of disrupting his meditations had irked him a little before and any way he could mess with her mind a little would be a bonus for him. Especially if Zandelia could overhear some of the juicier tidbits.

Clearing his throat loudly he remarked, "and that was the story of the changing Eth with horns, absolutely fantastic I might say. Right at dusk he'd turn back to her female form and I'm sure to tell you it was the best of both worlds! Those horns were absolutely stunning to work with!" It was an absolute lie of course, the eth in question had been female in both her forms, but still… one could hardly fault Antar for telling a small snippet to leave the rest up to the imagination.

And the imagination of Shai; who seemed a veritable un-plucked flower of modesty, for a symenestra of course, was what he was playing on. She seemed absolutely naiive about such … copulative acts and such was a weakness. A weakness he intended to play to his advantage in their little game, so long as he could keep shocking her. Leaning back he tilted the copper miza to reflect the light towards Shai’s eyes. His smile grew just a little larger before turning brashly towards Zandelia, the rogue kept an eye out for the inevitable trouble that was soon to follow as he put the woman in the spotlight, “So Zandelia, what’s do you look for in a guy, or even a girl for that matter?” He knew he was probably going to go to one of Dira’s Hells for this little bit of fun, but he couldn’t help it. The ladies were probably going to try to whoop him in the water or something.

Even now he wondered what would happen next as he moved the coin a little more to attract Shai’s attention. It was just over Zandelia's right shoulder, yet below her chin out of her sight. If the spider made a grab for it, and if he was fast enough to get out of the way, who knew what might happen when the two ladies fortunes collided?

From the corner of his eyes, he saw Ellise, the falcon, chortle a little more at Antar's antics before waddling around the side of the spring towards Zenai and Eridanus. She'd just sit there on the side a little, flapping her wings as she looked from one to the other.

[Zenai]

Zenai answered Shai’s query by pointing at Bob while leaning on the edges of the pool. “Him. I wondered where the midget was at.” He then turns to Bob as he gathered his wits after being thrown into the pool by the brutish Antar. “You should have told us you were, Bob. We couldn’t start the celebrations without you. After all, you’re one of the guests of honor.” The other guests of honor would be whoever else is leaving Sunberth for Alvadas. Zenai had laughed when Bob was in the process of being thrown by the mercenary. Zenai was glad that he did not had to deal with Bob’s tricks and Antar kindly stepped in to do justice of the short man. “You know Bob I wouldn’t and couldn’t imagine someone throwing you but seeing how practical it is, I think it opens up a whole new range of tactics and strategies.” Zenai was joking of course. Bob wouldn’t make a good projectile weapon; too much cursing in route to his target and if he survived the fall, Zenai would not hear the end of issue. Still, if people wanted to throw Bob, Zenai would let them do so.

Now that Bob is here, the party can get started. What’s a party without women? A sausage fest but it’s too late in the year for that kind of event. Not enough meat to go around and to make sausages during winter. Also, most women didn’t like to be involved in the butchering and making of sausages. Smelly and dirty process but quite delicious in the end. While Antar slide in between the two ladies and sarcastically joined in their “girl” talk, Zenai had already slipped in besides Zandelia for obvious reasons. Zenai listened to their conversation with Antar butting in and started on the conversion which mostly pertains to sexual orientation and their type of person that they would want to go out with. The usual “girl” talk if there was one.

Now that Antar sparked the conversation, Zenai wondered about his own preference. Zenai was pretty sure he was interested in women but what type of women? Of course, he would want to go with the beautiful ones and that’s about it as far as Zenai was concern. He didn’t really had time to think about what he was looking for in a soul mate. He spent most of his childhood training as a knight in Syliras and even as an adolescent; there was a sort of rivalry between the male squires and female squires. Pranks were commonplace but discouraged by chaperones and the knights themselves. Competition was also fierce when they’re training together. It was during his early days as a squire when he had learned not to underestimate a girl especially when that said girl pummeled him into oblivion. Zenai had to stay in bed for about week before he was forced to rejoin training as he had a temporary phobia of girls for a few months. A funny and sad time, it was.

Then there would be the Inarta girls when he got back to Wind Reach after his training as a Syliran Knight had failed. Very outspoken and very open; Zenai, on the other hand and having lived in Syliras for about ten years, was an anathema to them. Zenai then, or even today, was too serious, too uptight and too into his training to become an Endal which also failed and the reason why he is in Sunberth. Of course, Zenai being a young man at the time with the natural instinct to breed had tried to court some of the Inarta girls. The few encounters would see as a clumsy fool who is better off marrying his sword and bow. Most would turn him down and said they’re better off as friends which in Zenai’s mind would mean “Loser! Loser! Loser!” Zenai gave up finding a mate and concentrate on his more immediate issues like making a living and surviving the dangers of Sunberth.

Zenai had no issues sharing his thoughts and feelings when who he has considered friends if they even asked at all. It’s not like they will used it against him as he had no lovers and just had the appeal of a potato. Maybe Zenai will be able to garner sympathy and one of the girls would be nice enough to introduce him to one of their female friends. Or maybe they’ll just laugh at him and make jokes. It shouldn’t bother Zenai since he has been of an oddity and a joke almost his entire life. In Syliras, they would make fun of him for being a ginger bird lover because of his Inarta heritage, redheaded-ness and his people reverence for birds. In Wind Reach, a colorless horse kisser due to his hair being less red and orange as well as his affiliation with the Syliran Knights. Why could insults be more generic?

Zenai snapped himself out of his musings and concentrated on the conversion to be had. Once Antar and the girls were done with their “girl” talk, Zenai would chime in and asked, “Everyone enjoying themselves? You are? Excellent! Now that we’re all so warm and clean, thank Ivak for this springs, I think we should go off to have our meals. Hot food to give warmth to our insides and soul.” He hopes that the patrons of this fine establishment had something good to eat. Zenai was willing to spend a little bit more for a good meal. Bathing with attractive women, and Eridanus, as well as seeing a spectacular stun by Bob had made Zenai hungry. He hopes that hunger extends to the rest of them. Zenai was going to miss them even though some of them were the most questionable individuals he has ever considered as friends. He hopes they would come back and by that time, Zenai hope that he has made a name for himself in Sunberth so he can show off.

[Bob Barton]

It was just too hard for Bob to prevent himself from laughing at what he thought would happen to Zenai next. As disciplined as he was he would fly into a panic. Bob put his ear to the door to try and listen to all the chaos which would be inside. Furniture being thrown around, glassware shattering, bodies tumbling, squeals of fright but there was nothing but silence for a few moments while Antar battled against his bloodlust and prepared to attack. Bob's imagination started running wild that maybe he might have accidentally forced his friend to escape through a window or something. That would be bad, but if he admitted that he was part of Zenai's entourage to the owners would he get to use the room and bill it to Zenai? Then he finally got a reaction with a questioning statement full of spirited fight. Bob tried to give a low growl and continued on to say "me and the army of people paid to hunt down folk like you who come to Sunberth uninvited!" The doubt Bob implanted did its job well to fluster Zenai from his reaction and with this new set of words, Bob's djed worked into its recipient's to answer his question that while not an army, there is a large amount of people waiting out there for him.

Up to today, Bob never ever got the reactions he wanted when he tried using hypnotism. He just wanted whoever it was behind the door to surrender but then suddenly he felt something moving over him pretty fast and heard it embedding itself to the door. "By Lhex's balls!" Bob exclaimed already so badly influenced by Mok's own swearing and was let out by the sudden shock of seeing the weapon and Antar's very own swears. "Are you really the sort of idiot who would rather die fighting than surrender? The only fools who would probably go after you are some Sunberth thugs. You would be better off taking them down while they are off guard!" he yelled. He was pretty used to seeing Antar's paranoia when they went to the taverns how he watched the small time gangs so Bob would never suspect that Antar was actually being chased by some large and powerful organization in reality.

Bob did not like the way Antar give his suggestion but he was going to take his own advice. Putting away his things and getting changed into a loincloth of his own which he cursed as well because "don't these places have anything my size? You better not tip them later Antar" or should he say Mersailles now that he knows the rogue's full name. After that he stepped up to a smiling and glaring Antar satisfied that his threat had work...or did it? Bob just said "one last chance before you go down this path. You know it won't end well for you" tapping his pointed finger at Antar's chest to get his attention. Once he was sure that all the attention was on the finger, Bob gave a sudden shout that it was all "fine!" for him because he was going to escape. One swift jerk of the knee brought his foot up and it landed right on Antar's knee like he always did to punish the rogue when he got too high for himself. Bob felt that it was some sort of personal duty to bring him down to the appropriate level.

With a laugh, Bob spun around to make his escape while mocking the easily fooled Antar that "I told you so." But since the loincloth he wore was just too big for him, the garment dropped on the floor tripping him as soon as Bob's hands stopped holding on to get into proper running form. "Hands off me you sick and twisted pervert!" he yelled out again when Antar tried to manhandle him and get him to the pool. "Help! Sausage lover on the loose! Save yourselves after you save me!" he cried loudly again hoping that any man who cherished the sweet companionship of a woman more than a forceful man would try and stop Antar before they became the next victim if Bob's words were to be believed.

Bob's failed revenge on Zenai which caused the revenge of an angry Antar which brought to Bob trying to take revenge on the much deserved revenge but failed just made Bob think more about revenge. Lost with what the midget thinks? It was not worth trying to figure out. All anyone would have to know is that Bob made a scheme as soon as he splashed into the water to throw Antar into yet another panic. But first, maybe Antar was not so bad because of the targets he selected. Seeing them Bob stopped opposing and went with the flow, even pointing his head at the direction he wanted to follow in the air. After some airtime Bob switched to the water in a splash near Shai and Zandelia. Bob just stayed rooted down at the base of the pool holding his breath for a while but it was not nearly even a few seconds that he had to resurface to breath again. Angry because none of his so called friends around the area did anything to save him from drowning after what he felt was so long from the pressure underwater except that Shai soon came when he was spluttering to get up. Bob flailed his hands around wildly for a while with no intentions to get handsy but the results were not so bad right until Shai swatted him away.

"What? I am not good enough for you now that I am all wet?" he asked her before recovering. Bob actually thought that the face she gave Antar was meant for Bob with that remark. He wondered if she actually preferred Antar more than him. That cannot be! Bob will just have to show the spider who is the top dog around here. All the misunderstandings would soon turn into something even worse than an animal show in a circus especially once Bob saw Antar making some moves on Shai. When Antar started, Bob submerged himself in the water only leaving his head from the nose up to breath as he waded silently towards the man who was off guard like a crocodile stalking a prey.

Bob got a little bit closer and took bigger steps in the water. Fortunately enough it will dampen any sound long enough for Bob to act. A shin kick was too good for Antar this time and he needed something more. Something to show him exactly how Bob felt right now. Once Bob got right behind his target he dived inside only releasing a "BLOP!" when his head entered. He might not be able to see well under the water but at this distance it will not matter. Bob fought against the water to reach his hands out to Antar's legs and pulled it from right under him planning to sink the man and keep him down there for a while. It was made even easier since the water helped Bob to support Antar's weight and it was slippery enough to slide the man's feet from the ground.

Once Antar was submerged, Bob will resurface to ask Shai whether "this is the kind of man for you?" Hah! Bob took a few more steps and floated himself until he was right above Antar to announce that "I am on top of him which makes me..." with a smug look on his face "...the better man." Seeing Zandelia for the first time in the pool gave Bob an idea that "why don't we leave the two lovebirds alone" extending his hand to Shai "because we need some alone time for ourselves too." He just saved Shai from the evil monster known as Antar and now he will get his prize. Antar can live with the troll though as far as he cared.

[Shai]

Shai’s muscles clenched when Antar sat in between Zandelia and her. The man was completely insufferable. She was just about to pull away when his arms extended and grasped around both women. It still wasn’t quite enough to hold her until the thief saw a flash of the copper miza. Shai managed to ignore his annoying prattle until she felt the slight touch on her thigh. At first, Shai assumed it was an accident but as the feeling slipped over her skin she realized he was doing it on purpose. She tried not to react but she was unable to prevent the heat spreading across her cheeks. Was he trying to distract her from the miza? Did he think she was such a poor thief to lose sight of her goal so easily?

Shai had hoped that the caress had been all he would do. Her hopes were dashed when he leaned in close and began to whisper. What kind of sick mind thinks of such things?! Shai tried to keep a passive face forward, tried not to acknowledge his comments. She would have managed it if her mind could have blocked him out, instead she couldn’t stop a mental image of the described act from forming. It was bad enough that Shai could even picture it. Her small blush spread across her entire face. Shai was pretty certain even the back of her neck was red at this point.

At this point, if Shai was thinking clearly she would have gotten up and left. The Symenestra’s desire for a new dress was impractical and she would live without it. Unfortunately her pride wanted reparation, and the idiot had official stopped digging a hole; he was well on the way to making a cavern large enough to rival Kalinor. She’s eyes locked on that coin. He was purposely taunting her with the miza, making sure she couldn’t forget about it. Even in her flustered mind she knew it was a trap, he wanted her to go for it. She was other playing his little game so she was stuck with only a handful of options. Play by the rules and win or break the rules. She’d try to play by the rules first and test his grip on the copper. Besides, Shai couldn’t honestly count a win if she broke the rules. She wanted to crush him on his own terms.

Shai fought down the embarrassment and pushed herself closer to Antar. Her reach was nearly as long as the man even though he was a whole foot taller than her. So with his arm bent around Zandelia, his right hand and consequently the coin were both within her reach. Mustering every scrap of speed she’d ever learned to use in pickpocketing and struck.

Her hand flashed out towards the miza and just when her fingers were about grasp on it, her hooks ready to extend and secure her prize, Antar jerked. She had been ready for his arm moving but his whole body moved and slipped out from under her. What the petch? Shai hadn’t realized where her hand had landed, after the failed reach, was Zandelia’s uppermost ample assests. This would have only served to further mortify the spider had she not been so focused on besting Antar.

The Symenestra plunged down into the water after Antar. She couldn’t swim but she could hold her breath and sink and that was exactly the plan. She rammed her knee into his right hand while it was down trying to loosen his grip on the copper. Unfortunately he had already balled it into a fist. She wasn’t about to let her trophy get away when it was this close and its guard highly distracted. Shai’s skin bristled with microscopic hooks as she released them from every inch of unclothed skin and wrapped her legs around Antar's waist from behind.The spider tried to pry open his hand with hers, she didn’t actually mean to scratch him if she did, but she wasn’t trying to draw blood. Shai didn’t need the elderly couple after her for hurting a costumer.

Shai refused to loosen her grip even after her vehicle emerged from the water but while struggling she was still happy to run her mouth. "Bob, love is precisely that. For the birds, I am not a bird. I am a spider. We eat birds." She grunted trying to keep her grip while still grasping for the hand holding the miza. She managed to speak more coherently when Antar stopped moving momentarily. “Do not take it personally. When humans and spiders take to carnal activities someone usually dies. ”

[Antar]

When Bob pulled him under the water there were three things that flashed in his mind. The first was simple; he was denied the pleasure of seeing Shai turn as red as a lobster. The second was simple: there might be blood in the water soon if he could reach up to take his kukri from its sheathe, the other was that as soon as he dismissed the thought of killing the fool was that Bob was going to pay for this later. Possibly , being neutered if need be.

Then he remembered another key facet of being under the water; Air bubbles go upwards.

When Bob decided to float above him, it left him enough room to curl into a ball at the bottom of the pool and get his feet into position. With his leg muscles tensing, he springboarded upwards, driving part of his shoulder into the dwarves gut as his fisted hands set themselves under the dwarf's armpits. With the force of momentum coming from his push off the bottom of the pool, the smaller man was lifted from the water and thrown as any child would be tossed around in a pool only to flop back into the water several feet away.

The force of the action drove him under the water again, and almost instantly he felt a heavy weight on his back. A weight with lush curves and a clinging grip with a hand or two that scrambled towards the coin in his clenched right fist. Mustering the strength he had, even after slight scratches from clawmarks. Antar rose out of the water to breathe. He simply sputtered and coughed a little, concentrating on the necessity to regain his composure a little as Shai's words to Bob were probably going unheard. The rogue shuffled a little towards the communal springs steps and sent a wink towards Bob. He took a little pity for the midget, as Bob probably was thinking Shai had jumped on Antar to rescue him or something. The dwarf's mind held a few blind spots which were unhealthy, and Antar pondered if that was because his roomate Darik was rubbing off on him. But then again, when Bob got angry logic went out the window. "Unfortunately its true, I once hunted a sym that made a feast out of ten different lovers, sucking their brains down like they were a delicacy. It's not wise to tangle in the sheets with a Symenestra. Being on friendly terms and goofing around with small bets is one thing so long as they don't go for the fangs."

With a snarky smile he turned his head slightly to the side to look at the woman holding onto his back by her ... bare skin. And her long black hair draped down over them both down, its strands waving about his face. The rogues eyes flashed with hidden amusement as he was enjoying their little game. The almost naked symenestra couldn't weigh more then a hundred pounds, and was quite warm to his senses, even if she was scrabbling for the miza in his hand.

The situation he was in was rather amusing to him, if he hadn't posessed the nagging suspicion that the symenestra might actually bite him. Still, a small part of his soul wanted to see if he could make her a little more flustered, "You know my dear, if it wasn't for the claws I actually might find this kind of pleasant. You do seem to be rather buoyant in some things, not as much as Zandelia of course, but enough to be useful as a flotation device if necessary. Unfortunately you still seem to be interrupting my time to swim so I'm off to do that. I'll meet up with the rest of you for lunch a little later."

With Shai still clinging to his back, Antar struggled to walk out of the spring, and the rivulets of water poured off his skin and the soaked loincloth as he struggled to walk with the ... pleasant weight on his back. If only she wasn't a spider.

Exiting the spring fully with Shai still clinging on his back he started to hum a little tune. His feet turned towards the private pool he had contracted and soon he marched away from the communal area. He shook himself a little to try to rid the weight from his back before speaking loudly enough that only Shai could hear him, "You know, if you could only get rid of that pride you'd be quite able to really quite something, and your form is certainly quite pleasant enough to catch any mark's eye. So long as they didn't realize you were a spider that might wish to bite them to suck out their vital juices, now can I ask the good looking woman in you to get off this rogue's back? I don't like it when a girl gets too clingy!"

His steps quicked towards the private pool, and he jumped and twisted in the air to backflop into the waters, all with Shai ... well beneath him as they submerged into the pool. His right arm had a few minor scratches from her attempts to get the coin but it was still clutched tightly in his hand. It wasn't that he wouldn't surrender it if the situation called for it, but he wanted to test Shai's limits a little further in their deadly game.

Back at the communal pool...

Ellise was having a grand old time as she chortled and fluttered her wings and started to hop after the rogue as he ventured towards the room he had rented. The kelvic made her way inside the area quite quickly for her birdy legs and soon enough the falcon was perched contentedly on a side stand normally used for the hanging of clothes. She was getting tired with all the excitement today, so soon was nodding off into little birdy naps...

[Eridanus]

Eridanus chortled with laughter as he saw the dynamics played out, Anthony obviously gossiping in an exaggerated manner, when he suddenly disappeared beneath the water, with Bob suddenly appearing from that same spot with his signature smug look, paired with an even more smug declaration. It was too much for the poor Ethaefal and he tried his best not to laugh too loudly, covering his mouth while wiping away the tears of laughter that began forming in theh corner of his eyes. It was like watching a clown act at a carnival, as Bob found himself lifted in the air when Anthony sprung from his previous position, the midget flying off and landing in a splash several yards away, being cannon-balled a second time by the same man. Shai seemed to be somewhat, clingy on the human rogue and had begun grabbing him from the back in a somewhat compromising position. That was, of course, after accidentally grabbing Zandelia's well, assets, and a brief thought floated into the Ethaefal's mind on what it would feel like to be in the symenestra's position instead. Minus the clinging on to Anthony part, of course. As Anthony stood up - with the spider still hanging on his back - the two of them retreated to another place and Eri shrugged in response when Zandelia and Zenai turned to him with a curious expression on their faces. He knew little about what was happening. Turning to find Bob who was beginning to recover from his second involuntary splash into the pool, he helped the midget up again, chuckling, "Not much affinity you have with that crafty bugger there, do you Bob?", jerking his head over in the direction of Antar leaving with the clinging woman, as the other occupants of the springs who were following the unfolding drama between the group of them stared at the leaving pair. Addressing the rest of the group, Eri wondered, "Something on between the two of them?"

[Zandelia]

If Zandelia had known exactly what would have happened once she had taken to Shai’s side, exiting the private bath areas more out of curiosity than a desire to aid the young woman, then she would most probably have removed Shai’s loincloth and prepared to thoroughly enjoy the experience. She had always been a relatively easy one for beautiful young girls to gain access to, for services or more and this situation was no different. She had no inclination to help catch Antar’s miza, knowing full well the game was between the pair of them and did not include Zandelia whatsoever. More to the point she knew exactly what kinds of things Anta rut thieves through and, though she pondered upon whether he would do the same to herself, she had no overriding need to find out first hand what it was like. No, instead she merely followed and watched, awaiting the eventual strike and the cat and mouse game in between.

I wonder when it shall begin she thought to herself, yet that musing proved an unnecessary one at that.

Antar slid his muscular arm around her, his battle hardened form pressing against her skin as his head came down conspiratorially and spoke words she knew were meant for all to hear. It was a good gambit, a lure for Shai to be pulled in by and one that, judging by the darkening of the symenestran’s usually impish feature, worked rather effectively. It was not so much a subtle move on Antar’s part, but it held just enough teasing within it to harm Shai’s pride further, perhaps seeking a mistake to be made. Zandelia, normally one to be attracted to the female form, found it rather difficult herself to follow what was going on in so far as she was shown, rather frankly, that Antar might well be one of the few men she could imagine herself bedding. He was no classic beauty, but exuded an aura of primal attraction in some indefinable way. Still, she tried to keep her mind upon the matter at hand and the unfolding events, that was at least until events started to get fundamentally out of control.

“Bob” she muttered to herself wryly as she watched him caper and dance, jibe and insult. He was a sprite but without the beauty of the species within him. She could deal with his words, his shouting and his desire to get them escorted from the hot springs early.

What she could not deal with, however, were the actions that followed. Antar suddenly disappeared from beside her, his arm slithering across her shoulder, down her back to come down – fairly hard in point of fact – upon her rear and a hiss of pain escaped her lips just in time to meet Shai coming the other way, this time it was her hand groping her with all the tenderness of a butcher handling a leg of pork. Her slender fingers gave her breast one brief, and rough, caress before being ripped away. Zandelia could only assume that she had hooks upon her palms as it felt as if the woman took a layer of skin with her as she flew past an onto Antar, now getting back up out of the water after supplanting Bob – conquering dwarf – for control. She tried to hide her grimaces but as she looked herself over she could indeed see Shai’s palm print red and in all its glory across the flesh of her bust. Turning her hips she saw a similar pattern upon her bottom from Antar’s hand also.

“And I didn’t even get bought a drink. Bloody classy of them that. Let them have their tumble then, I’ll be finding me someone else with more manners than the common street walker” she muttered to herself wryly as the rest of the group were left, bereft, in as ea of inexplicable action.

“I have no idea what that was all about Eridanus, but I’m damned well going to find out! Enjoy the view of me walking away” she parted with them, sarcasm dripping from her words as she became quickly aware of the only focus of their current attention.

With that she turned, giving them a little show just for the hell of it, before walking in the direction Antar had limped off in. If she was going to have her arse looked at then she might as well put on a show for it, and look many did as she passed – fully nude and with distinct red marks upon her pale skin. More than a few nudges and chuckles were exchanged as she grit her teeth and continued the search for those that had done the damage to her.

[Shai]

Shai went after the miza with single-minded focus. She knew Antar was moving since his gait jerked against the hooks in her skin, changing their grip to accommodate each step. She refused to let his compliments, which were in this case aimed to mock, get to her. They were definitely less humiliating than his previous ones, mainly because this time it was her keeping the contact and the barb was much less. . .creative than his earlier suggestion. “I am horribly sorry for inconveniencing you, truly I could think of much better places to spend my time than attached to a human’s back. Unfortunately, you started this and I simply must finish it.” Shai could be impertinent and struggle at the same time. But she wasn’t the best multi-tasker and so these two things were all she gave attention to.

The spider probably should have noticed where Antar was walking about didn’t until he spoke only to her and by then it was too late. Looking around Shai’s struggles for the miza stopped, Antar had brought them into a private room again. This was definitely not to the thief’s advantage, because here he could use force and the elder couple probably wouldn’t ever know. Shai sighed against the back of his neck, “Oh that is genius, a clingy spider. A novel jes--.“ She didn’t get a chance to finish her reprimand on his joke, because the moronic male rogue had decided to throw them both into the private bath; Shai first.

She only just managed to close her mouth before they hit the water, not even enough time to take in a good sized breath. Furthermore, the warm water was a shock. Shai hadn’t realized how cold her wet skin had gotten on their little jaunt to the private rooms. The surprise of the warm water was uncomfortable enough to break Shai’s focused anger. And in the brief moment she spent suspended underwater she came to realize how foolish she had been acting. Releasing her grip on Antar the spider maneuvered back to the surface. Leaning over the edge of the pool Shai took time to gather her breath and her thoughts.

What have I been doing? This is a completely undignified approach. She needed to think this through like it was a puzzle, just another riddle. What did she know about Antar? He was stronger than she was but she suspected not as smart. If not less intelligent then at least less patient no matter what he said. He had a temper and was especially territorial of his belongings. He has a pet hawk and access to magic. He didn’t want to irreparably harm her and he wanted her help with a job if she could prove good enough to take the miza.

That was enough information for Shai to deduce several key points she had missed in her rage. One, Antar needed a female for a job and thought she might fit the bill. Two, if his story about waiting weeks for a mark was to be believed, he was an assassin, thieves simply didn't do business that way. Three, he could win against her in a fight of force but probably not of wills. If Shai couldn’t beat him she intended to join him. How had she failed to notice the obvious? Out of all the acquaintances she had encountered in Sunberth in the past season this man might rank among the most valuable. It was time to change the game, it had been interesting for certain, but now Shai was going to flip the board and change the rules.

After her breath had returned to normal she spun around to address Antar. She hadn’t accounted for him behind so close though. As they stood now facing one another Shai took the time to examine him properly. Before now she had been too agitated, or perhaps even enraged, to notice some very important aspects of this rogue. Now his white hair struck her, it reminded her of a Symenestra, but his eye and skin color marked him as decidedly unspider-like. The look on her face held the same intensity has her previous efforts to snatch the coin but now instead of physical pursuits it was calculating. If she could pull this man from her adversary to her ally, she could stand to make much more than one petty copper miza. Standing her ground and refusing to move away from the nearly naked man, Shai began her proposition. “This wager has been entertaining. More so at my expensive than I would like but, well, I was the one who stumbled into your room I suppose I deserved it. For what it is it worth I truly had no intention to steal, although I admit that is how I make my living.” It was a simply beginning spoken in even tones, it admitted error and offered reason for her audience to connect to her. “I do wonder though at the results of the wager. At first glance someone would assume you just needed a bosom to distract a mark. But if that was the case then why would you need one who can also steal?” Shai shifted her weight; it would have been an appropriate way to show the shifting of the conversation with body language. Only 'would have' because the spider had shifted while still standing right in front of the rogue. This had the unfortunate side effect of brushing her petite figure against him. Shai lucked out this time; the dunk in the hot water had blushed her skin from external heat rather than the precious blood flowing beneath her skin. Accordingly the embarrassment that would have been displayed on her face remained camouflaged.

Shai momentarily lost the beat of her conversation but picked it back up smoothly, trying to hide the fumble. “Let us discuss a partnership, Antar. You are stronger than me, I admit it. To deny it at this point would be beyond inane. But I have skills you cannot match as well. You have something in mind where you need a distraction. Now you could still force me to hold to my word that after I failed to capture the miza the first time I would play your decoy. Or you can accept a new deal in which you have a willing partner who is actively looking to make your venture a success?” That was the pitch now all the spider needed to do was give a little more reasoning why he ought to partner with her. “Obviously you dislike Symenestra about as much as I dislike Humans, but I would wager the two of us have very different skills sets. Skill sets that could be complimentary if we wanted them to be.” Shai was entirely annoyed at their heights at this point; she had to look up at him. If Shai tried to look straight forward she would be talking to his chest and from what little she knew of men that was where neither of his decision making processes occurred. Posturing was as much a part of convincing as speech was and she needed to be on his eye level to seem an equal and not a subordinate. With some excellent results Shai could stomach equal with this man, who was actually her better in a fight, but being his subordinate would never happen.

Shai brushed her legs against his as she pushed back against the water and floated towards the edge of bath. Pulling herself up she sat on the edge, now levelly meeting Antar’s gaze. “So what do you say? Shall we keep up this game or shall we do business?” She offered a smile as a sign of peace, it was a faked emotion she had no cause to smile yet but the meaning behind it was genuine.

Pulling her hair over her shoulder she wrung it out returning quite a bit of water back to the pool. Shai began to rebraid her hair, if he chose to decline her offer it could only get in her way for whatever she would need to do to get that coin. Besides it made her look nonchalant which was far from reality.

[Bob Barton]

Bob was very satisfied with the way that he got rid of the monster and was so intent on getting his prize that he..., wait a second...where was Shai? Bob's smug look turned into a grimace when he saw Zandelia and uttered in disgust about who would "buy you a drink?" While he had no beauty about him, it could be said he had a class of his own but only to those who he felt required it. Not anyone like Zandelia that is for sure unless she was about to kill him so the classy treatment would have to come from people like Mok who were attracted to the wrong type of woman. Bob however did not want to attract that sort of danger or vengeance on him so all he did was remind Zandelia that "I already did that the last time" from when they finished that horrible job gone right and if she would remember properly, she was the one that was supposed to pay Bob for services rendered! A few extra coins should not hurt that much especially since as Bob knew she was not the mystery employer he was working on the job for then.

Before Zandelia could get a chance to think on what he said, Antar went for an unsuspected counterattack. Would he not learn that this will only make Bob's future vengeance greater? One moment he was talking to Zandelia and next there was someone lifting him up in the air. "What am I-" a child in a pool you baby around? He wanted to say. Once he started flying Bob knew what was going on having experienced it a few times already. "Damn you Anthony!" he yelled out in a businesslike tone that this was not the end. He could not fly but that did not stop him from flailing his arms again to reposition his body until he was facing the body of water. Phew, at least it was the soft water...and preparing himself Bob curled his own body up like he saw those professional buskers do in their landings and dived into the water. Easily recovering because of his preparation and the help of Eridanus, Bob got up again in time to watch Shai leaving with Antar when the ethaefal showed him.

Shai still did not learn from their first meeting at Tall Johnny's. She used the word eat then and Bob misinterpreted it. Now when she said eat again Bob just had to give another misinterpreted reply that "didn't you see how I flew just now? I undoubtedly am a bird and after that treatment from the brutish Antar I wouldn't mind getting eaten by a elegant spider like you. Just do it gently?" The thing about men is that they are attracted to danger so a black widowish woman, spider or not would not force them away. Especially if you are talking about men crazy enough to stay in Sunberth like Bob. If anything it would only want them to get closer as illustrated by the ten pitiful losers who got their brains sucked out by the symenestra that Antar hunted as he described. Bob would not doubt the truth of that since he knew how serious Antar was despite how interesting things always turned out when with him. More interesting than Antar was still Shai who Bob will admit that "I won't mind going to heaven with having a prequel of that with you the night before." You know...someone should really tell him about just how dangerous these symenestra are in their carnal activities before Bob meets one who is not Shai and learns it the final way.

Not Antar because with the scene of him leaving with Shai on his back would only make Bob think he wanted her all to himself. "So why don't you ditch that loser and come back here?" he asked. If Bob ever found out that all this was because Shai wanted a coin from Antar it will not end well for her because Bob would think she was part of some prostitution racket. Instead of many attempts of seducing her it will turn into attempts of paying her off. Maybe he would find that out soon because just as Zandelia, Bob is going to say "I am coming with you" angrily enough. Ignoring her nude arse he would look straight at her face to tell her that it was because "you want yours" which he believes is Antar "and I want mine" referring to Shai on their way there. "It should not be as hard as Delgarde but...it might be a lot more dangerous" because those two are a little bit crazy. What else would you refer a spider who used her spiderpowers to cling on a psychotic killer's back for a coin? Not as crazy as the two who seem to be following them though. One angry midget with a short fuse and a slaver killer with a one track mind.