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"Ahhh." I sighed.
The cool water of the quiet mountain pond was just cold enough to clear my mind, yet warm enough that I could really get a good soak in. We had had precious few opportunities to get proper clean out here in the wilderness, and I vaguely reminded myself to thank Lae'zel for discovering this little piece of the heavens.
We had camped near the pond, getting ready to turn in for the night, and a few of the others had already taken advantage of the cleansing waters, taking turns to bathe.
My robes and underwear was neatly folded on the shore, along with a little cloth for wiping myself dry, once I had had enough. I sunk down a little deeper. It'd be a while before I was done.
Idly I took note of the gathering of bruises and scrapes all over my body, the consequence of the rough and tumble days I was living through after getting off the accursed mindflayer ship. My old life seemed so far away already. I splashed some cool water on my face to try and stop thinking too much about that subject. I had to stay present.
The pond was about neck deep at its deepest, about five meters in radius, and so clear I could see the bottom of it, though it didn't really have any fish. Mostly some insects. I'd found a rock on the bottom by the shore that let me sit in the pond relatively comfortably and lean against the edge.
I inhaled deeply of the early night air, something I had definitely missed since moving to the city. The stench of pack animals and industry certainly had its own character to it, but this was more like being back home in the village. I fretted about my parents not having heard from me for many tendays, but again I wrenched my thoughts away from things I couldn't do anything about.
My homesickness was interrupted by the sound of footsteps encroaching. Soft-soled sandals rustled the sticks and leaves on the ground, and I looked back over my shoulder to see who it was.
My heart skipped a beat.
She was standing there in her usual leather pants and just a strap to cover her chest, hands on her hips. Her eyes glowed softly in time with the slowly pulsing light in her chest, and her gaze did weird things to my heart.
"Looking comfy there soldier. Lae told me she'd found a pond that didn't look that dirty." She grinned. "Mind if I join? Haven't had a good soak in... Well a decade really."
I felt my face heat up, despite the cool water surrounding me, and I turned around, covering my bare chest with an arm.
"G-go ahead, I don't mind." I managed to stammer.
"Yay!" She cheered.
Sounds went on behind me. The noise of her undressing. The sound of a small piece of soft leather hitting the ground, that would be her top. Then the sound of a belt unbuckling and more leather. I fidgeted, fighting a strong impulse to peek back at her. I heard two more pieces of cloth hit the ground, and then she walked past me around the pond to find a decent place to lower herself into the water. I tried my hardest to not look directly at her naked body.
I heard a brief sizzle, and she chuckled.
"It's a bit toe cold innit?"
Personally I felt like the water was boiling, but the surface of the pond was still and clear. She caught my eyes in the reflection and winked, then lowered herself in.
The reaction wasn't as harsh as I had imagined, though steam rose around her, and I could her the water bubble like a soup pot.
"Ahhhh." She said with a satisfied sigh.
"Gods that's nice."
"W-washing off the dust of the r-road." I stammered, still not daring to look at her.
"And cooling down. Man. Glad I can do this without exploding." She agreed with a sigh.
The water was bubbling less, but I could still see steam in the air. I wasn't cooling down at all. Somehow I felt doubtful that I was feeling the effects of her infernal engine in the water, this heat of mine was entirely on me.
We sat there in silence for a while, Karlach humming as the water sizzled joyously around her. She splashed some of the cool water into her face with a whoop and laughed.
"Being this hot I don't get much grime stuck on me, but the soot does get annoying, can you imagine?"
I was too busy trying to recite fundamental power equations in my head to come up with a good response when I realized she had asked me a question.
"Uhm, no I guess I can't." I replied lamely, distracted by the sound of the bubbles.
"Sorry, I was... Lost in thought."
She hmmed at that and didn't say anything for a moment. Then she splashed water on me. I flinched and squealed with a nervous giggle.
"Oi! No need to be shy! We're all friends here." She grinned.
"Unless Withers wants to join. Seriously can't read that guy at all."
"Oh-ohkay." I hedged, still looking away from her. She grunted and changed the subject.
"So what was your life like, in Baldur's Gate?" She asked, still emanating a quiet sizzling.
"I mean I'm from the poor side of the outer city, but gods we had fun."
I hesitated for a moment, considering how honest I could be with her. Technically we hadn't known each other for very long, yet she seemed so uncompromisingly sincere with everyone she met. Her enthusiasm was contagious. I shrugged.
"I mean it was fine. Growing up I had this whole image in my head of what a big city would be like, but once I got there I mostly just saw the inside of the study halls and the dorm we had to live in. The learning on the other hand..." My voice gained a note of excitement.
"They took things there for granted that struck me with awe. Observations about magic and the natural world that would take years to understand well enough to explain to a layperson. It felt... Privileged, to be capable of learning such beautiful things."
"Hmm?" She purred smugly.
"Look at you, coming out of that shell a bit! Hells, it's about time."
I let out a brief giggle and she laughed.
"So you really didn't see much of town other than the dusty old academy?" She asked, sounding a little disappointed.
"Well... I did uh... 'Fall in with the wrong crowd' you could say. For a while at least. We'd sneak out to listen to weird music and drink cheap ale." I could almost hear her eyebrows shooting up.
"Raven! I thought you were a good little student!" She teased, a feigned tone of shock in her voice. I sighed with a sad smile, my head still turned away from her.
"No, pretty average honestly. Subpar if we're talking action magic and combat. It's a little ludicrous that I'm here now, considering."
I leaned back with a long exhalation.
"But to continue the story the only reason I came in bad company was because of Him. Now that I'd rather not think about right now." I grimaced. That was a whole beehive of painful memories.
"I getya."
I huffed out another breath, somewhat lost in my memories.
"I do miss my cat though, you wouldn't believe the things we did to keep him hidden fro-"
The water splashed as she stormed through it, ploughing her way up to me like a magic-fueled rowboat. Something in my brain went 'Oh wow'. Out of sheer reflex I turned to stare at her with wide eyes. Friend or not, when a huge naked blazing tiefling storms at you, you notice. And notice I did.
She was completely nude, her ruby skin lit by the fading evening light and the glow in her chest, and she was glistening with pond water. She had a large collection of scars, including a painful looking burn on her right arm and shoulder, an entire war history that I found endlessly fascinating. Her eyes blazed, and she stared down at me with an intense smile, then crouched in the water to get on eye level with me. Her eyes sparkled.
"You had a cat?!" Her tone was shrill, excited, completely unrestrained.
"Gods I love cats! Fed the strays in the city, gave em all names." She rambled, nearly vibrating with excitement.
My eyes were way too busy trying to take in everything in front of me. I had to focus to prevent my jaw from hanging open.
"Uhhh." I said cleverly, my brain stalling.
"I miss them too! Asparagus and Wiener and Wisp and Mister and Pot Roast! Ohh I hope some of them are still around!" She continued, apparently oblivious to the effect she was having on me.
She leaned down and put a burly arm past my head to support herself on the shore. I felt her body heat blazing down upon me, and the water was definitely nearing a boil. I blushed so hard I had to be glowing at this point, but I looked up and met her eyes. Fearsome eyes, some might say. I definitely might have, back when I first saw them. But now I saw them for what they really were, blazing suns, that granted life upon what they touched. Well. They certainly made something grow on me in that pond, and I prayed she wouldn't look down.
"What's his name?"
"B-Bob." I managed to stammer, transfixed by her gaze.
She threw her head back and laughed. It made her body bounce enticingly.
"Ha! I love pets with person names. My next cat is going to be named William!"
She leaned in again.
"Hey what kinda cat is he? Is he fluffy? Ohh I bet he's fluffy!"
I didn't reply. My heart was pounding, my head was spinning. I tried to say something, but my head rolled back and there was a ringing sound rising in my ears. I could hear her yelling something at me, but it sounded very far away. My vision faded, and I heard water splashing.
Next time I woke up, I was lying on the ground. There was a burning ache somewhere on my shoulders, but the rest of me was awash in a warmly pleasant buzz, like I had been drinking firewine. Karlach was kneeling on the ground next to me, looking at my face. I might have blushed, but in this state I'm not sure I could tell.
"Hey! Soldier? You all right?"
'I'm alright!' I tried to say, but what came out sounded more like "Ah bubu." She fretted, panic on her handsome features.
"Ahh I fucked up, I shouldn't have gotten so close. Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?" She held up three fingers.
"Eleventeen..." I said, still somewhat delirious from the heat-induced fainting.
Then I giggled weakly. My consciousness was returning quickly now, along with a dull throbbing headache. She chuckled nervously, uncertainty and concern still plain on her face.
"Hah. That's a joke, right? Right? Gods, please be okay..." Her tone was heartrending, and the twinge in my chest snapped me more or less back to my senses.
"Yeah! Yeah... That was a joke. Sorry." I managed to get out, trying to push myself to my elbows.
She moved as if to stop me, then thought better of it. I managed to get myself seated upright.
"Sorry about your shoulders, Raven. You were sliding back into the pond and I didn't know what else to do! I tried to cool my hands with water but well..." She winced.
I looked down at myself. Red handprints bloomed on my shoulders, and a few blisters were already forming. Gingerly I prodded my left shoulder and hissed in pain, making Karlach flinch in response. She looked like she had just drowned her favorite cat.
"I'm fine! Don't worry!" I hurriedly blurted out, looking around for my clothes.
She had pulled hers back on while I was blacked out, and I absently noted a twinge of disappointment that I could no longer appreciate the beautifully scarred red skin like I had been doing in the pond.
I broke off that stream of thought with the incredible power of my some years of modest wizard practice, and tugged my clothes back on carefully. Karlach still looked at me with chagrin. I caught her eyes.
"Hey! Really! I'm okay. It's just a little burn, I've had worse." I lied.
It fucking hurt. Hastily putting clothes over fresh burns was perhaps not my brightest move and I failed to hide a grimace as I decided to go topless for a bit. She wasn't convinced.
"But-" She began.
"I'll see if Shadowheart can take care of it, but first I have to be sure you're alright." I said to her, my footing still a little unstable.
"Me?! But you're the one I just... That I just..." She hedged, despair rising in her tone. She almost sounded like she was about to cry.
"Karlach!" I said, more confidently than I felt.
I realized I really didn't say her name all that often, and I felt a determination to change that. I filed that thought away for later.
"You saved me. You did what you had to. Burns fade."
I looked at my shoulders again. The burns were in the shape of her large, long-fingered hands.
"Besides... this is proof that you've touched me." I smiled, gingerly caressing the outline of the burn.
There was an odd, muted clunk from Karlach and I eyed her. I might have imagined a blue flicker in her engine, and her concerned expression faded into a mysterious smile, her previous anxiety entirely gone.
"Soldier... You continue to surprise me." She purred, and I flashed a mischievous grin at her.
"Well maybe when we get you cooled down a little more, I'll have even more surprises in store." I surprised even myself with the directness of that awkward line, but I chalked it up to the buzz from the fainting spell.
"I can't wait!" She grinned. "But gods I'm glad you're okay."
We walked back to the camp together, my hair still damp. Shadowheart healed my burns without comment, but cocked an eyebrow at me when I asked her to leave a little of the scar.