For the lulz [open]

[Daniel nó Mandrake]

NB: it just HAD to be done. Trish is to blame.

I don’t keep regular bathing hours – that is, I bathe regularly (of course!) but I try to find a time that’s likely to be quiet. Unfortunately, everyone else thinks that way, too. I once came to wash at five in the morning, only to find Mordred taking up the entirety of the best tub, and looking incredibly smug about it. He’d used all the soap as well, the git.

It was, however, only moderately busy this evening, and I was glad to peel off my clothes, leave them piled messily in a corner and plunge myself into clean, heated water. My favourite bath too - hah! I slid down as low as I could, leaving just my nose and eyes on the surface of the water. I was actually pretending to be a crocodile - a habit from childhood - but nobody else needed to know that. In fact, it was rather important that they didn't know that.

There was very little conversation – a Mandrake, relaxing, requires his privacy.

[Mordred no' Mandrake]

Bathing was rarely ever a private arrangement- yes, we had the means to clean up in our rooms but that wasn't the same as a thorough cleaning and when you dealt with all of the blood, sweat and fluids that came of our particular brand of pleasure. I'd never been very social with many members of my House so I tended to do so during the early hours of the morning when things were quiet. Unfortunately there were others as anti-social as me, or at least pretending to be, but I didn't let it bother me overly much. I'd just soak until they were gone. It's not as though I had anywhere to be.

I had gotten into the habit of ignoring some of the noise from some of the younger ones but today I decided to let myself listen, smirking slightly to myself as I undressed and neatly set my clothing aside, the process methodical. Unashamed and unperturbed I stepped into the warm water, letting it seep into my skin and picking up some of the nearby soap to start lathering up. My black hair was soaped and then rinsed and I simply relaxed for the moment.

The entrance of Daniel, another of the older ones and therefore one that I'd seen for a lot of my own training, came in as well and slipped into the water, looking over at me as he did so and sliding into the water himself. He seemed to pay special attention to the soap and I chuckled darkly to myself as I held the last bar in my hands like a prisoner. "Oh, it's Daniel," I said in a nonchalant, sedate tone, then tossed the bar into the water near him to splash the bit of his head that showed over the water line. "Need this?"

[Avianna nó Mandrake]

I had been solitary, for the most part, but after meeting Bellamy and spending so much time around other people, I found that I was less loathe to be in the company of others as I had been in the past.

Take bathing, for example. I loved a nice, hot bath, but of course there was no privacy in the baths. Sometimes I snuck into the assignation chambers that had baths, but I knew from experience that Ignace frowned upon that.
Today I decided that I would be social, but not too social, because it was still rather early, and go to the baths. I didn't particularly care to be naked in front of other people, an odd attitude for an adept perhaps, but it made me feel more vulnerable than I liked. Still, it was just a bath.

When I arrived, there were two others present. Mordred, of course, that was just my luck. I hadn't spent too much time around him since our 'training' session. I was still mad at Ignace about that, but I supposed it was so long ago that holding a grudge was a bit silly. So I smiled and greeted Mordred and ... Daniel? At least, I thought that was his name.

"Good morning," I said, trying to make my voice less 'cool.' When Bellamy dubbed me 'The Ice Princess' it was amusing, when other people did it, it was a bit less so.

[Daniel nó Mandrake]

Staring at other Mandrakes while they take their clothes off is not a practice recommended for your continued good health but Mordred is frankly arresting. Shame he’s such an aloof wanker really. And there he was in the water only a few paces away, as relaxed as if he owned the place and hogging the soap. It’s like he’s my personal bathing nemesis.

The remains of the soap landed in the water beside me, splashing water into my hair. I know he’d done it to be annoying but I was in a bath – a place one comes to get wet – so I wasn’t overly concerned. I tossed my head back, sending an arc of droplets flying backwards from the ragged tips of my hair.

“Thank you,” I said, mildly, scooping up the remains of soggy soap in one palm. Life is just too short to spend it getting into pissing contests with other Mandrakes if you can possibly avoid it.

I soaped and submerged and when I re-emerged another adept I vaguely recognised was approaching. Avianna, was it? She had a reputation for being a cold bitch but, let’s face it, that could apply equally to any of us. Also although it’s a traditional Mandrake game to have forgotten your inconsequential colleagues, it seemed as though she genuinely just didn’t recognise me. So I looked up with a smile.

“Hello there, and, yes, it’s Daniel. I think there's room if you want to bathe. If Mordred would only move his feet."

[Mordred no' Mandrake]

Well, I'd heard that this one didn't take himself too seriously and really it was kind of refreshing. We kept our our faces in public, maybe him less than most, but then most of us couldn't uphold that 'stick in the ass' behavior around each other. That made for fights and it was simply not something I was willing to waste my time on. Other things were more important, like the service we were all dedicated to, and making enemies was the same as lashing your own hands together- you lost effectiveness.

"You're welcome," I replied in a low, nonchalant tone, then cast my gaze over toward Avianna. She and I hadn't gotten along in the past- maybe we were just too alike in some ways for there to be a friendship there, but I respected her. At least she didn't step on my toes, figuratively speaking. Literally as well; she was too graceful for that. "If you want my feet to move, my lady, you have only to ask."

Then, with a smooth motion I slid to one side and stood more upright, letting the water run over my chest as it was exposed to the air.