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Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa rolled his eyes as he worked and once he was done with the dishes he pulled them up and out of the water. After a moment of shaking them out to dry he moved to the horses to stow them in the horses packs once more. He then looked down at his clothing and gave a nod, cupping his hands to call out to Anja. "I'm going downriver to see if I can't find somewhere more secluded for bathing and washing clothes!"

With that he pulled his spear out of its holster and began to make his way down the riverbank, his spear making small holes in the sand as he walked. The sound of the river drowned out the sounds of him walking and at the same time he found himself closing his eyes and just taking a deep breath as he walked.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

It had taken him a few minutes to find what he wanted. It was a much smaller tributary joining the river and feeding it it's own waters, a small, gently swirling pool where the two waters met. It was not an overly large lake, but it was a suitable place for several people to potentially bathe and wash clothing. Tousa couldn't help but smile when he came across it, only a brief inspection of the surroundings before he set his spear to lean on a large rock nearby.

A few steps towards the water and he was beginning to pull off articles of clothing, slinging them across his arms as he did so until he was in nothing but undergarments. With that now done he knelt in front of the water and reached up to undo the simple tying of his hair that he put up every day, letting it relax around his shoulders. With everything now done he began to work on cleaning his clothing.

His hands were gentle with the material. He did not want to ruin it in case they needed to sell it off to continue having funds for the journey. If it did come to that, the more in tact the material was the better the price he would receive for it. Tousa soon found that the work was calming, a song naturally coming to him to hum as he continued working. A song that entertainers used to sing at the court of battle and glory. Of past kings and their queens.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa sat quietly in the waters, his long hair floating about him as he relaxed within the cool waters. His hands cupped themselves to bring up some water and pour it over one shoulder or another, or to wash a particular part of his body. He moved slowly and with care, making sure to enjoy the time he had to himself to simply relax.

Eventually Tousa moved from his body to his hair, gathering up the spread mass and setting it over one shoulder to begin gently running the cold water through it, squeezing out water as he moved his fingers down the length of it before running his hair through the mass and repeating the process, carefully dipping his head under water every now and then to get enough water to start the cleaning process over.

On the shore, the clothes he had been washing were now laid out on various rocks facing the sun to dry as he bathed, dripping water down every once in a while. Tousa was more distracted in cleaning his body than to pay attention to the clothing at the moment and even if he was he wouldn't be able to move through the water all that quickly.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa continued to enjoy his bath, simply meditating and reflecting on the past couple of days. Nearly two weeks had gone into this journey and they were roughly halfway to the capital now. H let out a sigh and rubbed at his chin. He was going to have to kill Anja once they reached the capital... An extra week on the road wouldn't hurt at this point right?

Just as his thoughts were getting embroiled in what he should do he felt arms wrap around him and hug him from behind. At first came alarm until the voice spoke, then it was annoyance, embarrassment and anger. "A-Anja!? What are you doing!? We agreed to take separate baths! Get off of me!" He yelled, arms moving behind him to try and awkwardly push the woman off of him.

The color of his cheeks had quickly become pink and while his arms were reaching back he had only dared a glance back once before turning his gaze back forward to make sure he didn't view anything he shouldn't.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa's hands froze and they moved to his lap quickly. It was true he didn't want them to go anywhere they shouldn't. "It would be nice right about now if we did that." He stated, clearing his throat and looking at the water's surface, clearly avoiding eye contact as best as possible. Every once in a while he would fidget in his sitting position.

"I'm not your pack! I have my own rules of society to follow Anja and this is inappropriate for me! I don't see why that is so difficult to understand! This is twice you've done this and in a relatively short amount of time! It's not okay! I am a human being raised in human culture. Seeing each other..." He paused and cleared his throat. "Without clothing is something only blood relatives and those of romantic inclinations can do. It's very poor behavior to do so otherwise, and before you say no one is watching I do have my morals and ethics!"

His face had gone from pink to red and his eyes were now screwed shut. Tousa's voice had also gotten louder, as if yelling would emphasize his point of how he wasn't okay with this. Instead it just accentuated his embarrassment as his speech became rushed to explain why.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa flinched slightly as she stood up, as if expecting to be berated. However all she did was admit defeat and began to head off for a different part of the river. He let out a small sigh himself. Part in relief, part in disappointment, part in continued frustration.

Then Anja called out to him and he glanced up at her only to sputter and move to try and look away as quickly as possible. "I-I... Th-that's not important Anja! I mean that's very improper!" He quickly corrected himself as he continued to move about like a beached fish, unsure of whether he should stand up himself, turn his head the opposite direction or charge for his clothing and take off somewhere else.

"I'm done bathing anyways! Just turn around for a minute so I can get out of the water and put my clothes on, then I'll face away from this spot so you can bathe in peace!" He called out after a moment of just sitting there to nervous and stricken with panic to do anything of actual importance.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa just covered himself as best as he could as she walked off, his face growing redder by the minute. "QUIT DOING THAT!" He yelled after her as he moved to go and find his clothing which should have been on the rocks that helped form the riverbank. He narrowed his eyes and looked around. His spear was still there, but his clothing was now missing.

He grabbed the spear quickly and began to look around, seeing if anything moved. After a moment of frustration, it came to him who was the only person in the vicinity that could have hidden his clothing and he turned around, now looking for Anja. "Anja! Where are my clothes!? Where did you hide them?" He yelled, frantically glancing around to try and find them. He didn't want to run around naked, but at the same time if Anja was going to go out of sight he wouldn't be able to find them anyways.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa turned to look towards Anja as she yelled about his posterior. "Just tell me where my clothes are!" He shouted back to her, clearly frustrated at the scenario she had put him in, his face showing no evidence of humor. In fact the embarrassment was just gone and simply replaced with annoyance and he was barely trying to hide his person at this point.

Then she began to flail and make erratic movements from the smooth motions she had been doing previously, coupled with a shout of his name. "Quit playing around Anja and just tell me where my clothes are! It's not-." Then she began to sink. Tousa took a moment to recognize the situation and then the spear was tossed to the side and he was diving into the water.

Everything was automatic. His body pushed him towards her through the gently moving water and when he finally did reach her, there was no worry about their appearance. One hand cupped a cheek and his lips formed against hers to seal them from water entering, pushing hers open slightly as he pushed what little air he had left in his lungs into hers as he kicked his legs as quickly as he could to carry them upwards to the surface so as to get another quick breath.