Jack nods and grins at the man, thanking him for his hospitality, before turning, kneeling, and cooing at the bear that had been practically hiding in his shadow.
Ya hear that mama? We got ourselves a room! Let's go git cleaned up! We gotta look an' smell purdy if wer'e a gonna fit in roun' tese parts! We'll dig that hole tomorrah, and roll inna dirt-- But tunight, we gotta look purdy! (Not that you ever don' look purdy ta me 'at is *chuckle*)
And with that, the odoriferous gentleman and his ursine companion waddle off into the lengthening shadows of the evening, and shortly thereafter, arrive at the bath-house.
Finding it unoccupied, the pair slip inside. It takes quite awhile to heat enough bath water with the provided firepit and cauldron, but before long a hot fire blazes where it is needed, and hot steam belches from the top, while the hobo draws up the bath. Sure enough, the soap provided veritably reeks of rose petals, in a most nose-wrinkling and sickening sweetness-- Mama didn't seem to mind it that much, but Jack found it intolerable. It reminded him too much of his prior life to be comfortable, and the woodsman fresh scent he had milled up suited him much better.
He locked the door, and took off his clothes.
Mama was chiding him, and demanding to know if he really intended to wash off all the scents they had picked up the past few nights, thinking he as crazy to want to wash them all off, just to smell like some boring old trees, and asserting that she found him provocative and compelling just the way he was. It was warming to him that she thought so, and he promised that his natural scent would return in just a day or two, but for tonight, they needed to smell boring and unattractive, lest the other 2 legged things get snooty. He painted a picture of them being strongly territorial, and the less they stood out, the better for them it would be. She could somewhat comprehend that, but felt it would be much better to claim their own territory, than try to skulk about and hide in something else's. He agreed, but they needed the safe place to sleep for the night. She still felt it would be alright to just sleep under the trees, like the two of them had done for the past few nights, but he reminded her of the violent day they had had, with the fast moving creatures that had hurt her face. She recoiled at the memory, and he wrapped gentle, loving, and concerned thoughts around her--- It was better to smell like old pine needles, than to risk having things like that show up in the night, with no other crazy 2 legged things to help drive them off with.
Reluctantly, Mama agreed.
Jack stacked up some of the wood logs meant to fuel the fireplace up near the side of the tall walled tub, making a kind of stair for Mama to climb in, before informing her that she should go first. He promised to be gentle, and do his best to make this as pleasurable an experience for her as possible-- He likened it to sitting in a stream or lake, just warm, and full of soft fluffy bubbles. She found the comparison lacking, due to the far more diminutive size of the tub compared to herself and what she envisioned for swimming in a lake-- free, and clear. He chuckled, chiding her that he would need to burn half the forest to heat that much water. She accepted the joke, huffed, and timidly climbed into the water...
--------
It was hard for him to say exactly how long the two of them had monopolized the bath house. Getting Mama clean had been an... Interesting... event. At first, she wasn't sure about ANYTHING he was doing, but after a bit, found all the extra attention very pleasurable. Pleasurable enough, that she tried to pull him in with her several times, despite there not being sufficient room in the tub. A thick coating of sand, mud, and forest detritus had been washed out of her fur, the pads of her feet, and off her skin, and had lined the bottom of the tub after jack had finished rinsing her off. She shook herself, and had sent water spray all over the room before he could wrap her up in one of the provided towels, and get her toweled down. It had taken even longer to clean out the tub, and get it ready for his own bath, which Mama had found irresistable to participate in, given how much affection he had given her while she had hers. By the end of it, she had changed her mind about baths, and decided that they were not that bad, but would DEFINITELY be something better taken TOGETHER. She had practically slurped off his face as she leaned over the side of the tub, insisting on participating on his cleaning regimen-- before he finally got every inch of himself, and his greasy, tightly braided locks clean. Much like it had with Mama, the tub demonstrated the degree of dirt he had managed to collect with just as much stark evidence, and needed just as thorough a cleansing afterward.
Now, Jack was seated in front of the shaving mirror, carefully teasing his towel dried hair into long spiraling tendrils that fell about his person like wavy coils of black wire, and set about pruning the wild and hoary bush that was growing out of his face with the scissors. Mama felt he looked completely ridiculous, like the other 2 legged things-- and that his once glorious smell was now so much harder to make out-- He could almost go walking in the woods and be completely invisible to her. Jack pointed out to her that this was very much the idea, and that the other 2 legged things were very picky about strong smells. She thought it was absurd that creatures that could barely smell anything at all would have such hang-ups, but he assured her that it was indeed the case, before returning his gaze at the mirror.
She laid down on the towels, and rolled around on them lazily while he finished up the last touches of his miraculous transformation. Where once his skin had appeared inscrutably grubby and indistinct, every scar on every inch of his body shone in the firelight, cascading across wiry but well muscled tawny ecru flesh. Mama did not seem to notice though, she was much too interested in sniffing at the fur clothes he had tossed aside earlier, relishing how they were saturated in his natural scent.
Jack slipped into the regional attire he had purchased; A kind of green and brown plaid overlaying natural color linen, and brown linen pants. They were a little snug in some parts of his frame, and loose in others, causing his physique to seem slightly augmented in ways he wasn't sure would be appropriate-- It made him look like a bear of a man, squeezed into a human-suit. He sighed-- Until he could properly launder his real clothes in the morning, it would have to suffice. He collected the discarded clothing from Mama, (who protested), folded it neatly, and then stuffed it into his rucksack.
He gave her a gentle rub all over her damp body, then unlocked and opened the door for her. The night air was chill and airish.
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Topic: Mystville [Game Thread] (Read 119547 times)