Difference between revisions of "Logs:The Man Rules and Public Baths"

Bathing Pools, High Reaches Weyr Omnipresent clouds of steam slink across the tops of three naturally warm pools, set into the floor of this kidney-shaped cavern. Near the entrance the ceiling is high and polished, gleaming with little mineral specks as it sweeps downward into increasingly ragged, uneven steps. The foremost of the pools is squared off with wide steps leading down into the water and has faucets for bringing in cooler water from a rain-catching cistern. Primarily used for laundry, there's an almost constant film of suds along its surface until the circulating current clears it at the end of the day. Four sinks line the nearest wall and various tubs stored beneath allow for the washing of delicates. Laundry bags can be dropped off in the bins near the door and clean, folded laundry is stacked in rows of tall cubbies for easy pickup.

The bend in the cavern leads to a rougher-hewn part of the chamber where the two circular bathing pools welcome those in need of a wash. Towels and washcloths are kept in neat stacks on shelves along the wall, along with sacks of sweetsand and a few bars of precious soap. Stone benches provide a place for sitting to remove shoes and clothing, while a row of gleaming brass hooks stand above, ready to hold clothes and robes.

Sometimes, a man just has to get clean... even moreso than get full. This is why Xhaeon's here during the dinner rush, when the bathing pools are quiet and scattered only lightly with occupants. He's in the hottest pool at the moment, soaking away the dirt and grime and cares of the day; his eyes are closed and his head is tilted back against the edge of the pool, arms lean and muscled from turns of work propped up on either side of the pool-edge, fingers lifted from prunifying waters, palm-up.

It's possible Kaeden had the same idea. It's also possible there was just no way in hell he was going to go to dinner smelling like the stables. Stables and... cold skin. You know the smell. Luckily, thanks to the dense humidity in the room, Xhaeon is unlikely to be subjected to much of either smell, as Kaeden is quick to leave clothing in the laundry baskets, bringing nothing but a towel with him to the pool. Before he's fully submerged in that hottest pool, though, there's likely still a smear here and there. Of mud, luckily, soon washed away in the flow of the bath, but that same mud is also causing half the hair on his head to stick almost straight up, and there are crusts of it along the hairline where a wipe with a washcloth just didn't quite do the trick. His acknowledgement of the other candidate is made with the simplest of nods, followed by an almost identical posture as Kaed just soaks in the hot water.

It is a horrible smell. Just a bit of it lingers - enough to alert Xhaeon that someone's there - and he gives a small nod in reply to Kaeden's, in that man code that forces no lingering eye contact or excessive personal interest whenever naked manparts are flopping around. Or floating, as it were... "Is it crazy out there?" Xhaeon's mild baritone questions, his head never quite moving from his leaned-back position.

"Pretty miserable," Kaeden answers, likewise not sparing another glance toward Xhaeon, though he does soon start moving to rinse the worst stuff off his arms. "Started snowing. Then raining. Then that... sharp, icy crap. It was snowing again by the time I finally came back in. Sharding herdbeast duty." Here, he stops, submerging himself for several seconds while working at getting the mud off his hair. When he returns to the surface, most of that lingering smell is gone, and he starts in with the soap.

"Sleet?" Xhaeon suggests lazily to fill in the gap. He's still not interested in actually scrubbing, though he finally does lift his head just in time to see Kaeden vs Hair Mud. "Don't let that hairdresser see you... you may start a crazy fashion among the lady holders," is his mild snark, a hint of laughter dimming any edge the statement may otherwise have. "I really meant out there in the dining caverns, though. Was the line as far back as the kitchens again?" Sardonic roll of the eyes in communal exasperation, and he finally moves towards the soapsand niche, starting belatedly on his arms and shoulders.

"Sleet, that's what it was," Kaeden murmurs as he starts working the soapsand into his arms and shoulders. "And yeah, it's packed. Days like this, folks just want to get it over with, it seems." He stands just enough to be able to get the majority of his chest and what he can reach of his back, then sits down to let the suds rinse away at their leisure. And the conversation lulls again while he starts on the much-needed face, neck and hair washing. Attention is politely kept off Xhaeon. Then Kaed dunks his head again and scrubs furiously before resurfacing, suddenly sporting helmet hair.

"Sleet sucks." Just in case Kaeden didn't know -- or maybe Xhaeon's just saying. "I was in the bar earlier, and it looked like a freakin' ghost hold. Strangest thing I've ever seen. Must be a pair of full moons out there." He shakes his head, ducks underwater, and surfaces in order to better scrub soap into the short growth of his hair. He doesn't force the conversation on, lapsing into silence for a long moment to facilitate finishing the act of shampooing and rinsing, but afterwards, easily enough he asks, "Are you as ready for the eggs to hatch as I am?" Wry amusement touches the pitch of his voice.

Kaeden's had time to rinse his head one more time during the silence, and now there's nothing for it but to perch on the edge of the pool so he can scrub his legs and feet, and the regions between that and his neck, of course. But it's all over soon, leaving him free to do nothing but soak again, without mud sticking to him. "Shells, yeah," Kaed answers in a low voice, though he continues to stare at the point where the pool's water disappears. Or the ceiling. Or hey, there's a towel over there. He props his arms up on the edge of the bath and goes back to lounging. "At this point, doesn't even matter how it turns out, right? Just want it done." There is a very brief pause while he grabs his towel and bundles it under his head. Much better. "If, uh... if you end up with the weyrlings, what happens with your Smith stuff?"

The guy rules of eye contact are so weird. Women aren't nearly so finicky. "Right? Just to be done with it all," Xhaeon agrees in an exhale, a chuff of a laugh somehow hidden within that. He's soon enough done scrubbing all the necessary bits, sinking back into the water with a grateful sigh. "I... don't quite know," he admits in response, his pause probably notable. "It's hard for me to take it seriously, after a decade," a decade! "--of standing in search lines."

This time, Kaeden does look over at Xhaeon, apparently having taken that grateful sigh to mean he was done with bath business. There is a palpable pause, followed by, "Seriously? Ten..." He trails off long enough to wipe some water off his face that had managed to trickle out of his hair. "I'm new to Weyr stuff, but... why do you keep standing? I don't have many expectations about what'll happen when we're finally called to the sands. Not as far as I'm concerned. I wanted to stick around, live away from the parents for a while, find some new experiences, but I'm excited to get on with life, too. Just need the eggs to hatch, first."

"Ten turns," Xhaeon admits, with a wry expression. "It's mandatory, at the hall. You stand in the line. I've never stood before, see - never been asked before." One of these things is not like the others! Ahem. "A novelty? More than that. It is an honor," he stresses; "For myself and for the craft. I don't mean to put myself in the situation of being referenced as 'that jerk Xhaeon who was too good to stand for the eggs'." Awww. He cares about what people think about him. The smith does nod along, though, with the reasons that Kaeden lists. "Sensible," is all he has to offer at the end of that. Getting on with life. Sensible.

"Huh." For several seconds, it seems that might be all Kaeden's going to have in reply. "At the Hold, we just... do our thing, and if a rider calls you over, you come over." His shoulders rock slightly against the pool's edge in a lazy sort of shrug. "If I hadn't been sticking around here for that big party a few months back, I'd probably be back at the Hold right now." He lets his head fall back to the bundled towel, dark eyes watching the water's reflections on the ceiling. "If the worst thing that happens is that your life isn't suddenly swept up by a dragon, well... doesn't seem like much of a hardship to give it a shot, right? What's a few months out of your life, when you've probably got Turns left after this?"

"Mmmm," Xhaeon replies noncommitant to the entirety of what Kaeden said; but not in a negative fashion, just very neutral to the topic. "That's one way to look at it." Speaking of looking at it, he's hefting out of the water and padding over to his towels, selecting the top one and starting the process of drying off. Once he's mostly done, he slings the towel around his hips and tucks in the ends, draping a clean one over his shoulders. "I think you're right, though - you have to roll with the punches, in life, or you'll miss the point of living." A flashed smile, a silent wave, and he's trodding out on bare feet, picking up his bundle of dirty clothes as he goes.