"Going for a shower, going for a shower! I'm going for a shower in a place that is still!" I loudly sang cheerfully as I danced about the first floor. Using my magic here and there to slip on down the hallways until I reached the showers. And once I was in the shower room, I closed the door behind me before I felt something familiar. So, I opened the door again and peaked out it.
"LARISHAZZA!" my sister roared furiously as she stomped up the stairs. A carpet of ice spreading out before her as she marched towards me. And I went pale as I stared at her as she approached me. Only slamming the door shut again just before she got near me.
And I jumped away from it with a clumsy stumble, "Oh, yeah, that's right..." I laughed out, terrified of what I was likely going to be on the receiving end of. Thankfully, Tiya presumed I stayed at the door, so she did not come barging into the wet, steaming room. Unthankfully, however, she was likely aware of this and I was quickly trapped in freezing ice while naked.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" my sister demanded to know once she opened the door. But I was simply too focused on the fact I was turning blue and encased in solid ice. She must have been really mad if the ice was thicker than a wall!
"C-C-C-C-C-OLD!" I squealed through clattering teeth before I was forcibly pulled from the ice and tossed at the nearest shower. Then, once I felt warm, steaming water, I curled up under it and cackled as if I had nearly died.
"ANSWER ME!" Tiya roared down at me as the ice began to prod at my newfound warmth. Forcing me back up to my feet before I ended up stuck behind thin strings of ice made from the shower water.
"I went out with my friends..." I told her as I tried to squish myself up against the wall. Only for her magic to suddenly disappear before she crushed me in the immediately following hug.
"DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW MUCH WORRY YOU CAUSED ME, MUM AND DAD!?" she roared straight into my ear as her hug kept me still.
But, she left me confused, "How were Mom and Dad worried?" I asked as I tilted my head at the red-faced beast.
"YOU WENT MISSING AND THE ACADEMY STAFF HAD NO ANSWERS! SO I CALLED HOME AND TRIED TO GET HELP FROM THEM! WERE IT NOT FOR YOUR BANK TRANSACTIONS, THEY'D HAVE HIRED A WORM-RIDER TO FIND YOU!" she started to explain before she started to thrash me back and forth violently. And when she was done and my mind settled down, I nervously giggled.
"S-Sorry." was all I really could say as I desperately pleaded on the inside that she would not use more of her magic. Then, when she let go of me, she walked away briefly.
Her face soon found a palm to rest against and she growled into it, "What am I going to do with you, bloody idiot." she spat out before her magic suddenly froze me in place again.
"AH! AH! AH! COLD!" I complained as I frantically danced about, hoping to break the bricks of ice encasing my feet. And I kept this up until I remembered that I could just use my own magic to blast it off. So I did, and I stood there quietly, ashamed by my lack of awareness. And that shame quickly shifted on over to thoughts of my family.
I rushed after that airship so quickly back then that I had forgotten to tell anyone. And, my first thoughts when getting back here weren't to make sure my sister was alright... It was to instead enjoy the crowd that had so inexplicitly formed before I went on to do other stuff... It was, and I was, as it was called back home, a water-hogger.
Selfish...
"Tiya! Tiya!" I called out once I had left the shower room and found her room. I could not sense her magic, but, I was assuming she was in here. Only to then jump up in shock when I felt a piece of ice form on the base of my neck. Right by where it gets a little bumpy.
"Stop walking about naked." she chastises as she fiddles around with some kind of device.
"I'm sorry..." I mumbled once the freezing sensation was gone.
"So you should be." Tiya commented as she crossed her arms. But, she was not upset in the way I thought she might be.
"I mean it... I just got so excited... Whenever it was and I lost track of everything..." I told her as I started to stroke my goosebump covered arm. A nervous gesture that soon evolved into me trying to return warmth to my body.
"We know, we all know. Which is why Dad called off the idea of sending a worm-rider after you when we got news of your various bank transactions."
"How do you even know about those? I did them in a bunch of different towns all over the place!" I exclaim as I took the tone as a means to chipper up slightly.
"Same bank, runny brain. They just tell us when something happens out of the ordinary, remember? Or has you brain run out of your ears already!?" she tells me before she flicks some ice at my ear.
"Hey!" I whined as I backed away from the aggressive woman.
"Get changed already!" she then commanded with a harsh stomp before her misty breath chased me back to the showers.
"YOU BETTER STAY DOWN THERE!" I scream back at her before I slammed the door. And, once I was on my own again, I dashed to the warm, running water. Turning on multiple and flooding the floors with steaming water. And I stayed there until this heat-starvation I was suffering from went away completely.
Then, I went and got changed into a fresh set of clothes that had been gathering dust in my dorm room draws. It wasn't much different from the usual, but, it was a lot finer in design. I was back at Suhurlodst now, after all, so I did not have to worry about my clothes getting wrecked. So it meant I could put on my cuter and or sexier outfits!
"That's better..." I sigh out with relaxed pleasure before I went back downstairs see if the others had returned. After all, it has been a while since I have spoken to either Grumpy or Ombo! The first one I just wanted to have some nostalgic fun with while the other I wanted to hug!
"Ah! The sister is back!" Ombo declared happily as his larger-since-last-time body thundered on over. And, were it not for my pre-emptive jump onto his belly, he would have flung me across the room.
"Hello!" I let out against his breast fat as I happily bashed my head on his jiggling body.
"Haha! I was worried about you." he told me with a cheerful smile before he let me get down.
"Eugh, why'd you come back with the same standards?" Quinshuu commented bitterly as his eyes carved deep holes into the Liada.
"Stop looking at me..." she begged as she trembled under the pressure of Quinshuu's magical eyes.
"Impressive, you have caught a rare creature indeed. Truly, a hunter." Quinshuu complimented as his eyes turned to Nin.
"Uh, thank you." Nin answered with uncertainty as Liada kept close to him in her time of uncertainty.
"So what kind of food do you like, Red One?" Ombo asked as he approached the counter before laying out various tools. What kind was pretty clear, but, he had gotten out quite the array.
"He has a point, you have been quite picky." Einervaene points out as I found myself smiling at her pickiness during our travels. All the while, I was sneaking closer to Vadei until I had forced her into a corner. She said nothing but I was happy to have squeezed her tail between me and her.
"This is nice." I say quietly as she stares intently at me. She tried to push me away, but, I was just too good for her, so she let me stay.
"You won't be able to cook what I like..." Liada says as she eyes a spoon of all things curiously.
"Stop that!" Nin immediately told her when she began to chew on the metal utensil.
"I'm hungry!" Liada growls at him before she throws the spoon away in frustration.
"You eat metal?" Vadei asked as her eyes widened slightly.
"Yeah, but I haven't had any for months now... Just bits of meat." she answers as her face goes against her palm.
"I think we might have a solution to this problem." Nin then says as he looks at Einervaene.
"What?" she asks before Ombo comes over and picks up the spoon.
"You are not strong, so I don't think I could safely melt this." he explains with disappointment in his tone.
"It won't matter anyway... It's not gold." Liada groans before she leans back into the chair.
"Expensive diet, huh?" Nin jokes before he gets what might as well have been a tap from her. A peculiar tap made with an elbow.
"Is it a nesscary part of your diet?" Ombo asked with utter seriousness as he shook the building on his way to the ground so he could sit.
"I don't know... I haven't really been hungry since I started travelling with Nin."
"Then your body is getting all it needs right now from the environmental magic supply, then." Ombo professionally points out.
"It doesn't feel right not eating because I need to..."
"I know that feeling, don't worry." Nin tells her as he strokes her shoulders.
"Oh yeah, you had the same problems, didn't you?" Vadei asks as she sticks her head out from behind me.
"Unfortunately, yeah." he grumpily says back as Liada's head rests against him.
"At least, today has me tired." she comments with a strange kind of relief before she stands up and takes Nin with her.
"So how are we going to feed her when she does start getting hungry again?" I ask as I move over to Ombo to help him up off of the floor. Only to end up on the floor myself as his belly had bashed into me. But, I laughed it off as it was fun.
"Why not ask the men of the deep earth to hunt for it?" Grumpy offers up as a solution before he drinks something that isn't milk.
"What you got there?" I asked him before he shot a bit of light magic from his own eyes and into mine.
"AH!" I wailed as I stumbled back into the wall.
"It's a milkshake, I got him into them while you were gone on your trip!" Ombo chuckles out before he starts to put everything away.
"Using a machine to slice up nature's bounty finely is an acceptable drink." Quinshuu points out in his own, strange way before he gulps the rest down. A loud thud echoed out from the table before his chair moved and he left.
"I think I'm blind..." I let out with despair before a pair of fingers open my eyes for me. A nervous chuckle then leaves me before I take a few steps back.
"Are you sure? Do you want to take a step outside first?" Vadei asked me before something outside gave us a reason to go look.
"What the..." Einervaene let out as we all rushed outside with Nin coming to a stop by the bottom of the stairs as we got to the door.