Groaning heavily, the old man lowered himself down into the salt bath. Thick steam filled the air as he lay back against the warm side of the tub. A metal container of coals next to him gleamed bright where they burned, adding to the steam like a sauna. "Oh yeah..that hits the spot...." Sliding down he almost disappeared completely into the water.

Hands slipped beneath the water, massaging his shoulders. Kel knelt by the tub, a thick towel under her knees to protect them from the hard tile beneath her. She was quiet, crimson eyes lost in thought as she relished the steam. Thick hair had been braided back, over one shoulder.

Eyes widen at the touch of hands. Slowly sliding up to regard that pale, alluring face. No words came forth feeling her massage his shoulders. His only response coming in a low groan. "Hey you..."

Still, she remained silent, fingers working at tension that she spent quite a bit of time lately easing. She had on a simple linen shift. She smiled sweetly at him, though.

A curious look at the thoughtful demeanor he grew silent himself, hair snaking around his head like red seaweed. Reaching up he brushed her cheek with a damp hand lightly, a soothing caress feeling the salt soak into his bones along with her touch.

She leaned into his touch, turning her face to kiss his palm briefly. She finally spoke, in a quiet whisper. "I found my way to the library today, Dru...." That smile was even sweeter, a look of pure bliss on her face. "I was there all day...."

"So...I should schedule you an eye-doctor appointment?" the teasing words drift up as he smiled at the kiss to his palm. "Read anything interesting?" Slowly he rise and twisted in the tub to face her.

She leaned her arms on the edge of her tub, and set her chin against them to watch him. "You have...an amazing collection. I had to..." She twisted a wrist around in that odd fashion that would look painful to anyone else, to tap a finger against her temple. "To understand some of it.... There is so much....."

"Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it." smiling softly he offered a nod. "Just be careful with some of those books. Not all are docile reads. Some will seduce you."

She blinked, pondering that statement for a moment. "What do you mean, seduce me?" She leaned over, dribbling some water on the coals to cause more steam to rise.

"I have texts covering a wide variety is all. And you're an academic...mostly. You'd disappear in there for the next decade if you wanted." smiling he leaned forward, brushing a kiss to her cheek.

"I'm going to live for a very long time, Dru. I don't think a decade spent in your library would be such a bad thing." She grinned, nuzzling against him, and ran her fingers through his wet, fiery hair.

"You don't? Can you imagine the bags you'd get under your eyes? Need coke-bottles for glasses..." Another smile as he reciprocated the affection before returning to lay in the soothing waters.

She reached, taking a small bottle of scented oil, and began to work it into the skin of her arms. "Oh, I think I could manage, without having that happened." Crimson eyes, filled with mirth, met his briefly, before dancing his away. "I finished moving the last of my things, as well."

"Hope you have enough space." He stretched out his legs, toes touching the far lip of the tub feeling knotted muscles scream out begging him to stop.

She glanced at him, then down, at his legs, with a raised eyebrow. "Plenty of it, actually. I didn't take much. My journals, papers. My violin. I don't really have any clothes, since I can just... well, you know."

"I figure like most women you'd have some monstrous shoe collection. New pair of comfortable shoes actually release endorphins, you know? Why shopping for them is equated to an addiction." Druid, the pervy sage who knew about women's habits. Or something like that. Feet returned to the water he smiled softly. "I should do this more often"

"You should..." She had finished spreading whatever it was onto her scales, and stretched. "I don't ... shop." She made a face of disgust.

Partial brow raised at that. "You don't eh? So you don't like going out, getting some man to spend exorbitant amounts of currency on you in exchange for a fashion show?" The words joking of course. He knew she wasn't into such things.

She leaned over, splashing some water at him. "No, I don't. I'd rather have a few small cherished gifts, then....." She sat back on her heels, and went silent, looking away. One hand absently rubbed the tattoo on her inner thigh.

He reached forward, putting his hand over hers. "I know, love. I know." Then perhaps in a display of youthful silliness, his hands reached to pull her into the tub with him!

She laughed, bending so she fell next to him in the tub. Playfully, she swatted at him, a small smile on her face. The shift disappeared like so much smoke, and she made a soft sound of contentment at the heated water.

Smiling he pulled her close, lips brushing before falling still. "Since it's not far off..what are your plans for the giving of thanks?"

She shook her head, before laying it against his chest. "I was ...going to visit..." She swallowed hard, but figured he should know. "I rescued... a child, once. I took him to the orphanage, and...most of the money I made went to his care and comfort. I like to visit him, every once in a while."

His shoulders shook gently at this admission. "Two peas, Kel. Two peas..."

"What do you mean?" She was toying with loose strands of his hair, rolling it over her fingers. Eyes were half-closed, as she relaxed against him.

"You helped a lad, set him up with an orphanage. I found 12 orphans and made them a family." He was still laughing softly as his hand brushed along her side.

She made some soft noise, half laugh, half sigh. "Birds of a feather, like we said. How odd..." She sat up a little, looking directly into his eyes. "Can I meet them? I could bring Marcus."

"You could, I set them up in my old house. Plenty of room for all." A soft nod. "And you could put up Marcus there I think."

"I'll have to ask him, first. He's pretty cozy at the orphanage." She yawned, sharp little fangs and forked tongue another mark of her oddness. "I put so much money aside, Dru. I never needed it. I could get it to them too."

"Not needed, lass." A soft brush of lips to her cheek. "They are well provided for, mostly self-sufficient."

She nodded, one arm draped across his waist, the other propped behind her head. The heat was making her drowsy, but she turned her face to kiss his lips. "Thank you... For letting me stay."

"No thanks required. I just do what I must..." He let the kiss linger a moment longer before pulling back. "Though where will you go from here?"

Her eyes were closed when she answered, but the change in her face was obvious. It was a question she was troubled by. "I don't know, Dru. I haven't decided."

A nod given he kissed her again. "Then stay as long as you need to decide."

"That may be.... a very long time. I've only known a life of violence, and...." She shook her head, eyes opening as she looked off into the distance. "I need to... adjust. To calm that part of me, that has nothing to do with the demon."

"Well I'd say you're in a good place to start. Can't hurt anyone here, well, not in a way that's not fun for both parties." Muffled snickering came as he hugged her close.

She laughed, tugging on a lock of his hair. "I have but a simple request, this evening.." A playful grin crossed her lips.

"Now I wonder what that could be?" He asked in a tone somewhere between mild curiosity and playful nudging as his hands disappeared low under the water.

She shifted, with a soft moan, eyes meeting his once more. "Slow tonight. Easy. Gentle. The whole time, not just part of it."

Eyes widen momentarily before offering a slow nod. "As the lady desires...." Leaning in he kissed her softly, slowly pulling her astride.

******

Hours later, she shifted languidly against him, hand trailing down his chest. Her cheeks were still slightly flushed, as she curled up close, draping one leg over his.

Breathing slowly his hand played through her hair, gently toying with each lock individual in slow twirls. Eyes lidded contentedly he just listened to their gentle breathing and enjoying the moment of closeness.

Another slow yawn, jaws creaking, as she nuzzled against him. "Dru? Have you... ever considered switching bodies? You know.... Someone younger?" Kel, in all her curiosity and experience, lacked tact sometimes.

The old man stilled against her, as if made of stone at her words. "Not in a long time, Kelathe. But to do so at this point would be rather cruel...." He turned to look at her, brow knitting together wondering about her line of questioning.

She touched the lips of his mask with her fingertips. "I was just curious. I.... I'm not asking because ...." Her brow furrowed. "I like you as you are...." She flushed, this time from frustration at her own words. "I just wonder, sometimes, if one day I'll wake up, and it won't be.... the Dru I know."

"Well it'll still be me. Just a varying degree. Besides..." He drew her attention to his centerpiece. "You don't think I had anything to do with that did you? This guy was all natural..." Snickering he kissed her forehead lightly. "But seriously. I'll be in this form a time yet, until he's ready to move on. Inhabited it too long to leave him in the cold as an old man."

She shook her head, soft laughter escaping her. She gently stroked her fingers along his arm, her face growing thoughtful once more. "So... he's alive, within you?"

"Yes, he is free to come out when he wants. All he has to say is, let me go...and that's the end of matters. I go elsewhere, and he is back in control. They have to agree to let us in, and it is by their will we are expelled. " Where her fingers pass raise little bumps along his leather-like flesh.

"Does he.... know me, too, then?" Her fingers wandered as they would, as she spoke. Even drowsy with the after-effects of the tender sex they had earlier, she was still ever questing for new information.

"No, I have kept that apart. I may enjoy voyeurism, but I would not subject him to such things. He knows what occurs, just not the details for such matters. He is my host, so I protect him when I must. In all arena's." Shifting, he turned into her more, bodies coming together once again. "Are you trying to find the difference in me and your own demon?"

She nodded, brushed her lips along the line of his shoulder. "When you told me that angels could... possess...human hosts, I.... wanted to know. The... demon had to break my will, in order to allow it to take over, in the manner that it did. Some people welcome them openly... but when they..." She swallowed thickly. "I haven't found anything about... the blood ritual the demon did with me."

"That could have many possibilities. In your case it was the soul binding correct?" Gentle baritone rumbles behind his mask. "Some welcome it, but most are forced either openly or subtle manipulation through prolonged interaction."

She nodded, rolling over onto her back to look at the ceiling. "I'm not... sure how long the demon was with me. It could have been.... influencing me the moment I entered Rhy'din. Everything was such a blur." Her eyes were distant, as if she were remembering.

Head propped on palm Druid let her reflect, climb down the rabbit hole, and ponder. "Or it came over with you. But you said before you had a penchant for bloodshed. This existed before Rhydin, correct?" His free hand traced slowly across her stomach, slipping low to circle her belly button with a soft drag of nails.

"I was trained that way.I was made into a killing machine, for the most part." Something dark flickered across the landscape of her features, and she turned her face away from him. "They tried to... condition... the emotions out of me. Keep me from feeling. It didn't work as well as they planned." The slow trace of his nails distracted her briefly. "In my world, there were no such things as demons."

"Oh, they probably were. Just low key. But that is the human factor. Or, the "X" factor as a lot refer to it. Can condition a lot, but something triggers the opposing mentality." He watched this flicker carefully, poised just in case their old friend should make an appearance.

She sighed softly, one hand covering his, as if sensing his wariness. "It's not.... it's just me. I think that's why the demon chose me." She turned, meeting his eyes. "Of course, there are any number of reasons the demon could have decided I was a good vessel. Unfortunately, some of those reasons worked against it."

"True enough..." another nod as his hand continued to brush lightly across her skin. "They choose for any number of reasons. Demons' are pure chaos. You want legalese talk to a devil."

She wrinkled her nose at him, then stretched slowly. "No, thank you. As much as matching wits with a creature like that would be amusing, I'm not stupid or suicidal." She winked, rolling over onto her stomach, and laying her head on her arms.

A grin he watched her some more. "That'd be my answer as well. But, you've come a ways since then, and I do believe for the better."

"Such sweet words..." She batted her eyelashes at him. "Oh, do flatter me some more." Laughter escaped her, as she reached out an hand, and gently stroked the cheek of his mask.

"You sure you want me to flatten you some more?" Teasing play on words as he shifted, setting his face above hers and descending for a lingering kiss.

Pale fingers gripped his hair, not letting him escape for a good, long while. When she finally let him go, she just smiled at him. "You make a bony blanket, Dru... but I suppose, if it means having someone to snuggle up with."

"Cute...real cute..." Lips press once again, body pushing closer before he eased off, settling beside her and gently curling. "Course you're not exactly well padded either, missy." Teasing little poke as he draped an arm across her.

She glanced down at herself, and patted her hips. "Well, at least I have these now. Before I got a hold of Earth, I was nothing more than skin and flexible bones." She fitted her body to his, fingers still tracing little lines along his sides. She yawned again, eyes half closed.

Smiling softly he kissed her lips as they pressed close, his hand lifting her thigh, hips shifting to set him easing within her in that slow torturous pace; bodies unable to physically become any closer. Arms curl about her, near possessive as he gently settled down. "Silver linings...always a silver lining..."