Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ai picks up a long handled scrub brush and eyes him with a smirk. "Oh, really? Are you absolutely sure about that?" she asks stalking her way to the tub.

Because Ai scrubs him good and hard, working the olive oil soap well into his fur then using the brush to work the now gooey flour mess free from his fur. But rather than feel tender and sore, it feels rather good. It has been some time since he has had a proper grooming and his skin seems to welcome the roughness. Then once she has the fur fairly clean, she begins to rinse him well with more water from the stove, working her fingers through his fur to make certain nothing remains, but as she does this she seems to find all his ticklish points, one after the other.

"My, you sure are jumpy today." she laughingly teases him as she runs a hand underneath to make certain she gotten everything out of the lower half of his coat.

She blushes a deep red and runs for new clothing, coming down looking more like her bardic self in a pair of leather pants and loose tunic. She stuffs some long strips of cloth into a shoulder bag and hunts down her coin purse, before leading the way out the door. Only when they are safely on the path to the baths does she speak.

"Kero, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to egg you on like that. Forgive me?" she begs in a soft worried voice.

"Other things?" prompt the bard worriedly, lifting her hand to the top of his head and giving his ears a good scratching, looking at him in the sunlight with his coat gleaming and soft.
What sort of other things might you be thinking of, my fine handsome Taro. I can't believe how much you have grown over the past year. You are clearly as tall as Hopian, just not as broad across the shoulders."

She laughs merrily and leads the way to the baths. "And a soak I promised, didn't I?" she asks as they walk up the path to the sprawling low built complex. "Oh I do hope the back pool isn't occupied. You need the heat and it has ledges I can stretch out on."

"Master Talesian, welcome!" calls a familiar voice as they come through the door. "How might I be of service, this fine sunny day?"

The proprietress comes out of the back room, drying her hands on her apron, giving Kero the oddest of looks. "Is he feeling alright? He spoke to me as if I were a man and I haven't seen him act like that since he was a cub."

Ai laughs uneasily and shakes her head. "He's fine, I think. But he's been acting goofy like this all morning." she says dropping down to her knees to give him a hug and stop his silliness. "Hey now..." she scolds gently. "Enough of that... " Her eyes are laughing merrily, so he knows she's not angry, just trying to get a hidden message across.

Looking up she smiles warmly at the woman. "Still he's right in that we both could do with a nice long quiet soaking. That back pool free? The one no one likes to use in the colder weather? I don't care that it's shallow and he loves the heat near it's core."

**umm, Kero, I didn't spring that one... it's old news... remember a certain other bath episode, with all the lions after Salunia's run in with the hornets?**

Tam/Ai gives as good as she gets, and in this form, which really does appear to be more male than female except for the region of her chest, she can take the heat a bit longer than in her lion form. It has been some time since they have felt that free with one another, letting each other know how much they cared for them, but not bringing anything into it except the joy of being in each other's company.

Finally having worn themselves out with their hijinks, she rolls to her back, her long red hair fanning out about her like an aura, and floats on the water staring at the ceiling, admiring the dark green vines growing there. "We need to do this more often." she murmurs softly to no one inparticular. "We need down time... no cares, no worries... just time to be ourselves. Man, I miss the open road."

Kero moves to her side, carefully pushing the hair aside and she rests a hand on his side.

"Then let's move on." he suggests.

She chuckles softly and shakes her head, levering her feet down so she stands waist deep in the steaming pool. "No, I can't teach you what you need to know and Mica can. Bardic magic I understand but you are no bard and I'm an instinctive spell caster at best. Our schools are too different. Plus, there's no methodology to my skills. You need his approach far more than you need mine. Besides, I like it here, too. Don't you? We just need to take more breaks."