The fog has no idea what she's talking about. Nope. No siree. Perfectly innocent fog here, slashed through with bands of a sickly iridescence, strange shapes and unseen worlds moving in the corner of your eyes - as is totally normal for fog. 

Really. 

There probably shouldn't be anything actually floating in the water, though, not this far from shore, not in these calm seas. Stuff floating in the water out here usually means something terrible happened to someone somewhere. 

Such as, for instance, the woman floating face up on the gentle waves, drifting toward the ship as she slips through the fog's grasping hands. Her dark purple hair spreads in a halo around her, and her eyes are closed, her body totally limp.

She's also stark naked and covered in strange shimmering tattoos, like someone decided injecting moonsilver under your skin isn't colorful enough. 

...That's not something you see every day.

She should let the body drift past. Or shoot it, or set fire to it, or something.

Eridani grabs a rope and calls a pair of crewmembers over to pull her back and dives into the water to retrieve the woman.

The woman remains totally limp as Eridani pulls her out of the water. She's breathing normally, and her skin feels normal, given the circumstances, and her hair behaves like hair should when lifted from the water. 

She doesn't utter even a small sigh as she's manhandled, her sleeping expression almost sad, and her eyes are flicking rapidly around under their lids.

Asleep, maybe? Wyld-touched for certain. She can make a more thorough inspection once she's gotten them both hauled back aboard. And had a length of canvas brought, for modesty.

She doesn't react to the hauling, but...

Asleep doesn't seem wrong. 

Or, perhaps it's more accurate to say she's Dreaming.

On a closer look, she has something of the dazed, slack expression people under fey spells can get, woven in through the melancholy. Though being actually asleep is rare; the enchanted are usually more daydreamers or sleepwalkers than this limpness. 

Hrmm... Taken by the Sea... tricky. Very tricky. Lots of things to consider, ways to awaken people with the least risk and damage...

Eridani pokes the woman's cheek.

She doesn't react, except for what might be an attempt at a twitch towards the poke. 

She is aware, then. A hopeful sign!

"Hello?" she says, putting her mouth close to the woman's ear.

Her eyes remain closed, her expression that same distant melancholy, but - her head turns (or arguably flops) a little bit towards Eridani.

...She's really pretty. And, y'know, if this was storybook thing, Eridani would be the hero who rescued the drowning damsel and woke her with true love's first kiss.

Fae stuff is like storybook things a lot of times.

Eridani leans in to peck the woman's lips quickly before she can think better of the idea.

Her eyes snap open and she gasps.

She jerks back with a startled "Eep!"

She goes perfectly still, gaze darting around briefly before focusing on Eridani.

"Where am I?" she asks, then coughs as her voice cracks. 

"Southeast Creation. The Dreaming Sea. Near Prasad. Uh, the ship is named Seraph...? Do you want some water?"

"...Fresh water, with nothing else in it." 

She gestures at one of the crew, who gets a cup of water.

"Can you sit up?"

"Hope so." She very gingerly sits up - and succeeds.

She passes her the cup of water.

"Here you go."

Slow sips, with a decent sized pause after the first.

Then: "...I haven't heard of the Dreaming Sea. Or Prasad."

"You must not be from around here, then."

"I've lived in the east, most of my life."

"...How far east?"

"Near the source of the Maruto River - one of the tributaries of the Yellow River, so..." Frown, and think, then: "About five thousand miles from the Earth Pole."

"That's about how far we are now. Maybe... a thousand, thousand and a half miles here to there in a straight line."

"Oh."

"... How big are Prasad and the Dreaming Sea?"

"-Ve..ry? Like, notable geographic entities."

"...I would've expected to know about them, then."

"Most people do, yeah."

Sigh.

"Do you mind if I travel with you, at least as far as the shore? I - need to figure out what's going on, I have no idea how I got to be on any body of water."

"Sure. It's probably something to do with the wyld, so I should keep an eye on you anyway."

She makes a face. 

"...The last thing I remember is going to bed with my girlfriend. She - wouldn't have been an easy person to take me from, and I should have woken."

That explains why she's naked, anyway.

"That sucks. There's definitely been at least one person who fell asleep in a fae court near Wu Jian or something and woke up here, though."

"It wasn't a fae court - we get raiders, but almost never deep into a settlement like that - "

"Also what kind of idiot falls asleep in a fae court?"

"The really gullible kind. You could tell him one in every eight thousand blades of grass was purple and he'd spend six hours going over a field trying to collect them all. Man lived a charmed life, though. Didn't die til he was almost eighty."

Snort. "Maybe the fae didn't want their cheap entertainment ending early."

"Something like that, probably."

"What's your name?"

"Shimmering Wyldclaw. Which I suspect might've been just asking to be fucked with."

"Little bit, yeah. I'm Eridani. Elathea Eridani."

"A pretty name."

Smile!

"Thanks!"

"Compliments your pretty face quite nicely."

(It is, perhaps, notable that she's making no particular effort to keep the cloth they set to cover her on, though it hasn't fallen off her shoulders yet.)

"Bet it does. 'Shimmering Wyldclaw' has a nice sound too."

"Do you, uh, want some clothes, by the way...?"

Stretch. The cloth slides down, tantalizingly pausing just above anything interesting. "Are clothes required, here?"

"More of a suggestion. But with art like you have I can see why you'd want to show it off."

Beam! 

She holds her hand out in front of her - and stills as she sees her tattoos, a strange look on her face. 

"Did they get changed?"

"Yeah."

"They were silver."

"Huh."

Probably wouldn't be well-received if she says she thinks this way looks better...

"Like the tattoos Lunars get?"

"...Somewhat like that, yes."

"Those're cool."

"Have you seen any before?"

"Mm, a couple times, yeah."

"A very beautiful art, isn't it?"

Enthusiastic nod. "I was impressed at the- extent of them."

"They're a good bit more painful than normal tattoos, too."

"Impressive."

"The durability helps, I'm sure."

"Yeah, but just because you can take a hit doesn't always mean you want to."

"I'd figure wanting it should be default."

"Depends on the context."

"Well. Perhaps 'asking for it' is my default."

Eridani giggles.

She smirks -

And then something in the air flexes around her, and she makes an almost horrified face.

"What is it?"

"...Something's wrong with my Essence."

"-That's kinda outside my area of expertise."

"Mine, too. At least on theory."

"Um. Wrong how?"

"It's - "

She frowns. "It's not - moving the way it should, and the thing I was trying to do failed when it shouldn't, not while I still have this much flowing through me - "

"And it feels... Like - it's being split into two streams as it flows into me."

"That's weird," Eridani diagnoses.

Snort. "Weirder to experience."

"I bet. I can kind of line up to different elements and they feel different, like fire's hot, earth's heavy, wood's," vague wave "twisty, that kind of thing, but. Only one at a time."

Expression like she's poking a wound even though none of her muscles are really moving, then - "Feels... One of them is - fast, the other's - not moving easily. The - stubborn? - stream is bigger, but they're - almost even..."

"Could you... switch them?"

"...It's not - immediately obvious..." Mrph. "I probably need to do the meditation thing. Clear my head and all."

"Might help, yeah."

"Though I've always found pretty girls work better for a clear head."

"Wouldn't that be, uh, distracting?"

"The process of clearing your head doesn't need to be all that calm."

Smirk. "Fighting also does it for me."

"My policy is 'no sparring on a wooden ship'."

"Might have to wait for that, then."

"It is kind of important I get where I'm going."

"Where are you going?"

"Diplomatic mission to the Anzati Principalities."

"Haven't heard of them either..."

"That's a little less surprising. They're not as important."

Smile. "Sometimes a small thing can hit hard."

"And I think I'm going to want to bug you for a map and maybe some geopolitics. See how off my memories are..."

"We have some charts below deck."

She stands (letting the cloth fall to the deck). "Lead the way."

Don't stare don't stare don't stare don't stare. Wow she's hot.

"Yeah, okay." Down below to Eridani's cabin!

She doesn't seem to mind the staring as she follows. 

"This is a nice ship."

"Only the best for us."

"It's important to invest in nice things."

"Perfection in body, mind, and spirit."

"Creating new heights for improvement."

"Something like that." She flings open the door. "And here we are. Maps are on the table. There's only one chair, but I also have a bed."

"Alright."

She sits on the bed, of course. 

Eridani will have to bring the maps over to her, then. And really, they take up two laps all spread out so it just makes sense to sit close.

Of course, of course - and in a narrow space like this, sitting with their thighs touching is only sensible. 

She makes room on the bed for Eridani.

Geography time!

...This is very much not the map of Creation she remembers. 

Well. That's kinda awkward.

...Yeah.

Either someone's changed her memory, or - she's very lost.

...How long has the Dreaming Sea been there.

Since forever. Approximately. Records from before the Great Contagion aren't super reliable.

It's been centuries since the Great Contagion, in the reality she's used to, and they don't have that sea...

...It is technically possible something that'll get called the Great Contagion happened multiple times, and the landscape got massively reordered in or before one of them. Which is a very depressing thought, but.

She's also used to there being pretty decent records at least back to a few centuries before, though accessing them can be difficult if the Empire doesn't like you.

'Likes' might be stretching it, but Prasad and the Realm aren't enemies. Eridani went to school on the Blessed Isle for a couple years, even. They didn't really have more records there.

" - Any kind of friendliness with Lunars would be weird with that where - I'm used to. The Scarlet Empire is at war with all of the Lunar kingdoms in campaign range."

"It's called the Samira Empire."

"...I think we might just have different empires."

"The Scarlet Empire was founded by a Fire Aspect dragonblood, who'd been one of the soldiers defending the borders of the Blessed Isle from an invasion of raksha before she abandoned her post and seized control of the Realm Defense Grid, which hadn't been functioning. She used that to kill the fey and then anyone trying to argue with her right to form an Empire about this. She apparently can't project force with the grid infinitely, though, so instead she's just been at war with everyone who isn't her Empire or one of its colonies for the last few centuries. She's had a leg up on that, since the Blessed Isle was unaffected by the raksha invasion, and somewhat less affected by the - our - Great Contagion than some places."

"There's rumors she's vanished within the last few years, and we're seeing a dramatic surge in shadowlands, restless dead, Deathlords, Yozi cults, and raksha activity. And also since it's widely suspected that no one other than her can operate the grid, everyone who hates the Empire is now trying to actually invade toward the Blessed Isle, not just keep the imperials out of their business. The Lunar kingdoms have had the most success with that, especially since the Wyld Hunt is faltering, and there's been an explosion in the number of Exalted causing problems everywhere."

"...Yes but also no. The empress isn't Exalted, she hasn't disappeared, the raksha got all the way to the Imperial Mountain before she got inside with the help of her Solar and Lunar mothers working together one last time to save Creation, and then after that she was basically the only person left who still knew what they were doing so she just kind of made an empire by accident? Not really, but it's hard to summarize."

"There has been more weird stuff happening the past couple years, though."

"...I don't - know what to make of the differences."

"It's like you're from an alternate reality."

"I haven't heard of that happening before, but - yeah."

"...I'd also rather that than 'the very distant past,' since. It implies my reality might still exist."

"Yeah. Maybe you can figure out how to get back."

...She snorts suddenly, then: "Hopefully before my girlfriend rips a hole in both realities while looking for me."

"Is she the possessive type, then?"

"More the forceful type. She's been quite willing to share, historically."

"Oh, good."

"It's pleasant."

"Is she as pretty as you?"

Dopey grin. "She's the most gorgeous woman in Creation, so, even prettier."

"Sounds like a sight to see."

"Very much. I'll have to introduce you."

"Bet that'd be fun."

"Quite," she purrs, "Though what kind depends a little on your tastes."

Oh, that voice! Shiver.

"I like a lot of things. Maybe you could give me a preview of some options."

She licks her lips. "Samples, at least."

"Mmm let me just-" clear away these maps real quick maybe just get them on the floor without wrinkling them too much.

She helps, with a predator's smooth, quick grace. 

Then, maps safe on the floor, she grabs Eridani and pushes her down into the mattress. (She's very strong, though not so forceful Eridani can't twist enough to affect which way she ends up facing.)

She wants to be facing Wyld, definitely.

Can Eridani get a kiss?

Absolutely! A bruisingly fierce one, even. 

She's a fan, if her muffled moan of pleasure is any indication.

Little quick bite. More of a nip, really. (Her teeth are very sharp.)

Happy wiggle!

Harder bite, just enough to draw blood.

Mmph!

Pretty girl, with very excellent noises.

She's going to see how many of those she can get, of course. And, it's rather unfair that she's the only naked one... She'll take care of undressing Eridani, then. Reveal new vistas of skin to kiss and bite. 

She is enthusiastically cooperative with these efforts. And has a few suggestions for which areas in particular may be fruitful avenues of exploration.

Wyld is willing to indulge a suggestion or two. Take them under consideration, given Eridani's local knowledge. 

She's, of course, a lot more gracious the more Eridani begs.

If Eridani begs enough, will Wyld let her do some nibbling?

Hmm...

Yes, so long as Eridani's a good girl. 

Eridani will be the absolute goodest girl.

Then she can use her teeth as much as she wants. 

Eridani will be responsible with this great power.

By 'responsible' she means 'biting a lot,' right?

If that's what's called for.

It absolutely is.

Nom!

Wiggle!!! (Chomp.)

An excellent sequence of give and take.

Mutual benefit.

Very many benefits.

With a very delicious girl.

(It's rather tragic Wyld's current fucked up Essence means she can't heal herself as trivially as she used to. They could get quite adventurous otherwise.)

Maybe that can be an aspirational goal.

Something she can safely practice on a wooden ship.

Yeah.

Maybe Eridani should give her a few exercises right now...

If Wyld's asking nicely, Eridani's happy to oblige.

She can ask very nicely. Possibly even beg a little, for a treat.

Eridani is incredibly weak to begging.

Good to know. Though, weaknesses can be dangerous... Maybe Wyld should help accustom her to it. 

Hmmm... not sure repeated exposure is really going to lessen the effect. But that doesn't mean they can't try.

It's a low cost, enjoyable test.

Nothing's standing in their way.

Mmmmmm, nope - they've gotten distracted from the biting, Eridani should start biting again.

Chomp!

Eeeeee!!!

Eridani will start leaving a pretty pattern of bite marks until Wyld tells her to stop.

She wouldn't dare interrupt art.

She's got quite a lot of tattoo area to compliment.

Mmmm, she's less bothered by the changed tattoos when they're beautifully highlighted like this... Eridani is quite the artist.

It's her pleasure to serve.

Good girl. (Hair scritch.)

Eridani can't purr as well as Wyld, but she makes a good try.

Cute.

(More scritches.)

Snuggles.

Soft pats.

"You're rather excellent."

"I am, aren't I?"

"And beautiful, too."

"You're beautiful too."

Giggle and stretch. "We complement each other well, then."

"Very much so. Close to the end on the path of perfection."

"I'd say perfection is the sort of thing where if you reach it, you need to get more ambitious. A process, not a destination."

"It was more a metaphorical thing."

She laughs and kisses Eridani. "But I like naked philosophy."

Kiss!

"We're dressed for it," she giggles.

"An excellent opportunity."

"Tell me about perfection, then."

She will! At length, and with numerous digressions into philophies she doesn't follow but wants to comment on (Eridani has heard of only a few of these), and with a few diversions into waxing poetic about either her girlfriend or current bed partner. Nobody's perfect, but, well, they're certainly an inspirational goal.

In the teachings Eridani subscribes to, perfection is a defined state. Theoretically achievable but- aspirational, still. She jokes about the end of the path, but it's not something you can get to in a single lifetime.

Perfection's situational, is part of her philosophy, and a perfect fish isn't much like a perfect bird - as well as the idea of improving yourself being a realm of perfection. If you can't improve, you're failing at something, and therefore you're not perfect. 

That sounds like the crux of their disagreement, right there.

Probably. And a bit hard to decide objectively, of course. (Though Wyld's right.)

Eridani doesn't see the need to have a real argument with the pretty naked girl in her bed.

Philosophy's subjective, which means kisses are a reasonable means of discourse. 

A language she speaks eloquently.

Wyld's pretty persuasive, herself. 

Eridani will attest to that!

Mmmm good. 

(Wyld's about the opposite of tired... But they might eventually run out of steam. Or have responsibilities. One of those.)

More likely the former. As far as Eridani's concerned, the ship pretty much runs itself until and unless they run into weird stuff.

Can she work on clearing Wyld's mind for meditation?

Seems the best use of their time, now. 

Eridani will do all she can.

She's excellent in all things, it seems - and Wyld actually makes good progress on figuring out the changes to her Essence by the time they make landfall. 

Oh, good. Maybe Eridani can also scrounge up some clothes for her to wear. Not that she doesn't greatly appreciate Wyld's naked body but she is trying to diplomacize and it is the local custom.

"I do understand the concept." Clothing! She's not very picky, actually, but it's best for the clothing's integrity to give her something which doesn't restrict her movement too much. 

Eridani's wardrobe has basically two styles: swooshy and sleek. The swooshy ones have a better chance of fitting Wyld, probably, she's a little bigger than Eridani.

Especially if 'skin tight and lightly distressed' isn't in style here. 

Swooshy is excellent, though. 

Eridani thinks so. How about this long skirt, then, and she can sort of drape this top across her shoulders like so.

Very lovely - the fabric is excellent, too, she loves the colors and texture. And she could wrap a breast band to go under the top pretty easily, if Eridani has some spare cloth and a pin for it. 

Cloth yes, pin yes- tada!

"Thanks, cutie." She recruits Eridani for help with the actual wrapping, too.

"My pleasure, beautiful."

Kiss!

"So, we're passing through one of the port cities first?"

"Yeah, the capital's further inland. This is a pretty good trading hub, though, if you wanted to get some stuff. I can spot you a couple dinar."

"Might not hurt to pick up some clothes... Though yours are very nice."

"Or if you want some knives or something."

"Goes without saying, though they'll have to be actually good knives."

"Doubt you're gonna find any jade-alloy blades."

"Those would be excellent. But I'd hope I could find some worth actually carrying."

"Steel in this region's usually decent quality. Bet you have at least an even chance."

"Worth looking, then."

"Yeah."

Shall they debark, then?

Lead the way.

Off to the markets! Eridani will let her escort deal with unloading themselves and getting set to travel inland, she's got shopping to do.

With Wyld tagging along, of course. 

She thinks - weapons, first. 

Build the wardrobe around the important pieces, right.

Gives them a better estimate of spare time to stare at pretty scarves, too (the Dreaming Sea's ports have such pretty scarves, she decides, or at least this one does).

It does! They're all stripey and fluttery.

Many of them delicate and sheer - those don't tend to export very far - which would definitely be fun in some circumstances, but she likes the looks of those more durable ones over there... Less likely to rip when being tugged at.

An important consideration, given Wyld's proclivity for vigorous activity.

They might need a 'look but don't touch' rule whenever Wyld's wearing the sheer ones. So, useful if Eridani's otherwise tied up...

That sounds like a mean rule.

Wyld's never claimed to be kind. 

Well... the sheer ones are very pretty...

They'll have to go through them more carefully once Wyld has her knives.

Go back to looking for those, then?

Yeah.

Wyld favors lightly curved blades, though really it's a good idea to get multiple, and she'll want some utility knives... She looks first for function, second for beauty, and she haggles extremely cheerfully, flirting with shopkeepers and making up outrageous tales, demonstrating a pretty deep knowledge of weapons craft and also a pretty good ability to just guess what the economy is like here, what things will tend to go for. 

She will, however, splurge on very gorgeous sheaths when those are available, and somehow convinces a man selling leather belts, belt bags, and knife sheaths to sell her a rather extensive set for a song. (Or, well, possibly for getting to feel her up while helping her fasten the straps and test how they settle.) They're a dark ruddy leather, thick and embossed with knotwork painted in fire shades, and Wyld strips in the back room to fasten several of them under her skirt and top (having purchased a shift and some leg wraps earlier for the specific purpose of keeping the leather off her skin).

Wyld comes out of the weapons section of the market very delighted with all her pretty sharps.

Eridani is impressed by Wyld's skills at shopping. The knives look very good on her.

They do. (Little twirl.) And they'll be very easy to show off.

Mhm!

Eridani checks the position of the sun. Looks like they've used up about half their time.

Well, fortunately she already has an idea of which scarves she wants... Might have to keep borrowing from Eridani or be a bit less picky on the rest of her wardrobe, though. 

Eridani's happy to share. And they can get more at the capital.

Fair enough. Especially more practical clothes...

For sure.

They can get the pretty scarves here.

Good. A scarf will suit her well.

This sheer one, dark red with black, jagged stripes almost like a tiger's... This white silk one with the green brocade looks warm... This one, black with red roses, is reinforced and long enough to tie things with... This purple one has sections with cool beadwork in blues and greens and golds and a bead peacock charm hanging off one end, that one's a keeper.

Wyld has great taste in scaves. Eridani approves!

Good. She'll be seeing them a lot, so. 

(Kiss!)

Kiss!

It's about time to head out, though.

Okay, okay, fair.

Where to?

Landward gate. They're heading north.

Okay. Not going to stay the night here, then?

There should be an inn up the road they can make by late evening.

Works for her.

Off they go, then.

The Anzatzi Principalities, despite their overall minor size and diplomatic weight, sit at the end of one of only three trade routes between the Dreaming Sea and the Realm, and the wealth that brings them doesn't seem too poorly distributed, either.

The capitol of Maizhekor Principality - the sea trade province, the only principality with extensive contact with Prasad, and where Eridani came ashore - was impressive and almost familiar, their architecture and culture heavily influenced by the flow of trade and people that washes over all cities that overlook the Dreaming Sea. That familiarity continues inland, at least as far as they make it by the evening. The inn has a familiar mix of languages buzzing around the common room, fine foods, and an innkeeper who thinks well of Eridani's lineage.

They make better time, though, than they would have in nearly any other place Eridani has visited, so the afternoon's travel has still taken them nearly to the edge of Maizhekor Principality, to where the coastal wetlands from the meeting of the country's two greatest rivers fade into firmer ground and fertile soils. That time is in large part because of the road at the center of the Anzatzi Principalities.

The Heart Way - or the High Road, as anyone not wrapped up in poesy calls it - is a truly massive boulevard that glides from Nechara at the inner edge of the Hundred Kingdoms to the shores of the Dreaming Sea, continuing submerged under the surface until it breaks off in a sudden, jagged edge. The Heart Way is very clearly ancient, its surface a smooth, uniform sandy-brown, cool to the touch even in the greatest heat, no signs of wear on its surface even after at least a millennium of use. It's a hundred feet across from ditch to ditch, arranged as two massive roads with a twenty foot green between them. It runs straight and true, its slope unchanging even as the land rises and falls around it, meaning that - especially in at the inner edge of the coastal wetlands - it's very often on a broad swath of raised land, even above the ridge that divides the river valleys. This road is the lifeblood of the region, and it's rather heavily coveted (and, from every briefing drilled into Eridani's head, it can't fall into enemy hands).

Even several kingdoms and two empires' worth of trade can't overwhelm the road, and the Principality here at least does a very good job of keeping the road clear of obstruction. The inn is down the slope to the side of the High Road, on packed earth and stone raised above the still somewhat soggy ground. The side road is less incredibly nice, but still in pretty decent condition, and it continues on past the inn to the north.

Eridani can also pretty easily get a nice large suite for herself and Wyld if she wants. There's a lot of inns along this road, and this one isn't very crowded right now.

She got a budget for this. No reason to stint.

Massive soft bed and private bath it is! (There's also a small public bathhouse in this area, serving the clusters of inns and miscellaneous services for travelers, but, well, there's rules for using a public bathhouse.)

Rules are for people who don't know how to break them. This is a rule Eridani knows how to break. (The secret is throwing money at the problem.)

(Nobody relevant has any objections to her renting out the entire bathhouse.)

What's Wyld think?

She thoroughly approves.

"I have my own bathhouse back home, you know," she comments. "I should show it to you when we figure out how to get back." Lazy smirk. "It's bigger than this settlement - so, an actually decent size."

Giggle. "You must need an entire river to feed it."

"It's built into one, on the shores of a lake - part of a temple and palace complex my girlfriend gifted me."

"Generous of her."

"She and my second in command keep conspiring to get me to take breaks from the campaign trail. It's terrible."

"Taking time for the little pleasures is what makes life worth living."

"I know. But some opportunities close fast..."

Noseboop. "Opportunities come back. Or you make new ones!"

Giggle. "Planning to join the conspiracy, then?"

"If it seems necessary."

"I'm sure they'll welcome the help."

"I'll be the extrauniversal branch."

"Assuming we don't outright steal you, of course."

"Dunno, I kinda like this world..."

"Then seducing you away's going to be a challenge?"

"Or," Eridani says, "You could bring all your friends here, instead."

"It'd be terribly irresponsible to abandon my kingdom entirely."

"Figure out how to bring them too, then."

"Quite the project - but my ambitions rest in that world, too..."

"Well, you work on seducing me and I'll work on seducing you, how about that?"

"Deal."

And a kiss to seal it!

As is only proper.

(Very kiss.)

Good thing they've got this bathhouse all to themselves.

A very wise move of Eridani's.

She is a font of wisdom in certain, very specific areas.

Seems to be the ones that matter, so far. 

Hee!

Kiss!

Kisses!

And they should probably take their clothes off, seeing how this is a bathhouse and all.

Very logical. (Kiss!)

Eridani's a font of logic, too.

No end to her talents.

Nope! (Smug smug.)

Smug grins call for kisses.

Wyld strips with a teasing flourish, then.

Eridani applauds politely.

"Your turn, lovely."

"Oh, but I'm so exhausted from our travels." She wipes a hand across her forehead dramatically and bats her eyes at Wyld. "Maybe you can help me..."

"Oh, how thoughtless of me..." She licks her lips as she steps up to 'help' Eridani out of her things. 

Just as planned.

And of course, she needs to kiss and nip every inch of revealed skin as she goes.

Happy wiggles and moans!

And then help her into the water, next. Make sure she can relax.

Gonna massage the kinks out?

The knots in her muscles, at least. Other sorts of kinks, however...

Fair enough.

She gathers up massage supplies and settles in behind Eridani, resting her hands on the other girl's shoulders and kneading lightly. "What's your worst kink?" she purrs.

"Just a little below the right shoulderblade, near the center."

Her hands drift there, relieving it with deft touches. The oil she picked smells divine and tingles on Eridani's skin, almost a cold burn. "Your biggest kink?"

"Mm, that's nice..."

"...Older women who could beat me up, probably."

Shoulder nip. "You know, now that we're not on a wooden boat... I do think I was promised a spar."

"Now?"

"Well, if we stick to wrestling."

"All right."

"I should oil you up too, then."

"It'd be only fair."

She giggles and hunts for the shiniest oil to use on Wyld.

Seems to be: a mildly spicy one! Tastes very good, actually, and gives her skin a warm sheen. (And apparently stings a bit.)

Suits her, then.

Feels very interesting. Wyld squirms a bit as Eridani oils her up.

She'll have to make extra sure she gets all the nooks and crannies.

Very squirm!!!

Call that warmup wiggles.

Mmmm, kiss!

Kiss!

Where should they start the match? One of the shallower pools?

Sounds like a good first pass. Perhaps this warmer one over here...

Kay.

Three, two, one... start!

She's not as overwhelmingly powerful as she once would've been, before her trip here -

Which is exciting, actually, she hasn't felt a thrill of danger like this in a while, not a safe one rather than the creeping anxiety of a massive battle -

She's still pretty good at grappling, though, and losing her Lunar abilities and her ability to manipulate her Essence trivially hasn't dulled her mastery of her body itself.

Fun!

And fairly shortly Wyld sees why Eridani didn't want to spar on the ship, as her Essence coalesces around her into a crackling blaze of fiery anima. The flames might make grabbing some parts of her a dicey proposition.

Dicey, sexy... Same difference.

She barely even notices that she's using Essence as she retaliates, falling into the ebb and flow of the fight with a laugh. Her own strange Essence flows into the world, not quite shifting reality - not quite a fey power - but close, and she throws Eridani off balance more easily than she should, the scales tipping in precipitously in her favor with every strike - which blur together as she gets into the rhythm of combat.

She's aiming to trip Eridani, force her to kneel in the water with Wyld on her back pressing into her.

An achievable result, with a bit of effort.

Eridani goes down with a yelp, the water sizzling as her anima vaporizes it into steam.

Then, kneeling behind Eridani, a hand behind her neck and one trapping her arms, Eridani's face pushed fairly near the water - Wyld leans in next to her ear and murmurs, "You know what my big kink is?"

"Is it- drowning pretty girls?"

Oh no if she giggles that'll break the sexy aesthetic here.

She keeps an even tone of voice, by dint of great effort. She nips Eridani's ear, then: "Very close."

"Have you ever felt the swell of your breath in your lungs, Eridani?" The name rolls off her lips with relish. "Desperate, trapped, burning..." Kiss to the back of her neck, right above Wyld's hand. "That primal fear?" She tightens her grip, both on Eridani's neck and arms, though not yet quite painfully so. "Have you felt a pretty girl's pulse jumping under your hands? Felt her struggle under you?"

Lean back in to Eridani's ear, then, voice so low Eridani has to strain to hear it. "I have, all of it."

"Does that sound exciting to you, pretty girl?"

Eridani moans, then splutters as she accidentally inhales some water. Her pulse is getting faster and faster.

"Yes, Wyld- please-"

"Take a deep breath, pretty girl."

Big inhale!

And she shoves Eridani under the water, pinning her down.

Glubblugblububub!

Eridani's got a pretty good lung capacity, but her wiggles slowly escalate to thrashes.

Wyld may or may not be helping, what with how the hand not holding Eridani down is busy touching the young Exalt.

She lets Eridani breathe once pleasure seems to be turning to actual distress, though, pulling her out of the water.

"Phaaw!" She gasps for breath, chest heaving. Seems to still be smiling, though.

Eridani barely has the chance to get in a single breath before Wyld's kissing her hungrily.

Oh, well okay then.

At least she can breathe through her nose now... once she remembers that's an option.

Wyld might distract her just a little.

A delightful, heart-pounding distraction.

She topples them both into the water not long after Eridani's figured out breathing through her nose.

Splash!

Sadly, it's not deep enough they can really both submerge, but Wyld seems more focused on rolling around and making out right now anyways.

Eridani's having a grand time.

It's very much mutual.

Excellent.

The best way for it to be.

Maybe they can sidle over to one of the deeper pools?

Absolutely. 

One that provides plenty of room for Wyld to drag Eridani under.

Underwater kisses!!

They'll have to see who needs to surface first, now...

Well, Eridani has her hands free for tickle attacks now...

Quite the threat.

Though Wyld's won't exactly be idle - and she has an awful lot of experience holding her breath.

Eridani's a quick learner...

...but maybe not quick enough.

Wyld will be gracious and let her bow out before she gets too desperate for air.

Too kind of her, really.