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The trouble with the Velkroy was that it was a desert, and as such, it got very hot during the day. Travellers had to contend with the blazing sun, the relentless wind whisking sand into their eyes, and said sand being discovered in places it had no business being in. When one added hunting down and defeating a Gorgimera…it was a sweaty job even for a pair of fire Dominants and an exceptional frost wolf.
As he watched Clive’s attempts to wipe the perspiration from his face without slicing himself with his gauntlets, a thought occurred to Joshua.
“What say you to a refreshing visit at Dalimil’s famed bathhouse, brother?”
For a fleeting moment, Clive’s eyes glazed over in anticipation as he considered the prospect, but then they gained their sharpness again as his gaze swept over Joshua’s chest, where Ultima’s prison lay under his clothes.
“Joshua, I don’t think–” Clive began to voice his uncertainty, but Joshua had a counter at the ready.
“Oh, I was planning to only take the footbath. For the rest, a basin of water and some clean linen to wipe my body will be fine.”
Clive nodded.
“That'll do just as well for us both.”
Regrettably, Joshua had expected this as well. Damn his brother and his resistance to accept nice things for himself…
“You needn’t abstain just because I can’t join you,” he said while shaking his head. “We certainly can afford the fee, and you so rarely have a chance to indulge, so why not take it now?”
They argued back and forth for the length of the walk to Dalimil Inn. Eventually, Clive hung his head slightly and lowered his voice so much that Joshua barely heard it from the noise of the tableware seller loudly peddling his goods.
“I…wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. While knowing you were missing out.”
Fondness made Joshua’s heart swell, and he once again wondered what good fortune had blessed him with a brother like Clive.
All the more reason to persist.
“In truth…I do have one other idea. One which would allow both of us to enjoy a hot bath.”
Clive raised his eyes, face in a frown.
“And what would that be?”
Joshua tilted his head in the direction of the South Gate and Clive’s eyes followed…until they landed on the Doeznov Terraces across the river.
“Surely not.”
“Why not? The same water flows in the baths, and the great outdoors can hardly dampen the experience.”
“Difference being, it’s in plain view of half of Dalimil.”
Joshua’s lips curled into a smile.
“That’s the beauty of the plan—we would go after dark. If we sit for a meal now and leave the inn just before sundown, we'll be right on time to enjoy the many health benefits the water confers, in private.”
Clive visibly perked at the mention of the famed properties of the hot springs, which were said to heal a number of ailments as well as bestow a long life for those who bathed in them regularly. Loath as Joshua was to use his poor health against his brother like this, he knew this was the fastest way to make Clive agree to the plan.
“Alright,” was the expected reply, accompanied by Clive habitually crossing his arms as he put on his best stern face. “But you let me check the area for any beasts roaming about first, and we leave at the first sign of trouble.”
Joshua smiled.
“Of course, brother.”
No goblins or monsters could be found in the terraces upon arrival. While Clive stalked through every nook and cranny in case something was hiding in the hollow spaces between, Joshua lingered near the entrance with Torgal. He knelt down to scratch behind both of his fluffy ears.
“I doubt you’d enjoy a bath, so stay here and keep watch, alright?”
Torgal let out a single bark of acquiescence.
Most of the pools were too shallow for a satisfying bath, but a thorough search by firelight finally yielded results. Joshua eyed the most promising hollow, judging it to be deep enough that the water would easily cover his abdomen were he to sit in it. The night air was getting cooler by the minute, and the hot water released a perpetual cloud of inviting steam.
With an appreciative hum, Joshua began to shed his clothes, piling them on the ground with a lack of precision that would have irritated Jote to no end. He was halfway done, having just undone the strings on his leg covers and kicked off his boots, when he glanced back at Clive, still fully dressed.
“I do believe the idea was for us both to get a bath.”
“I’ll…have a rinse when you’re done,” Clive said, eyes shifting suspiciously about.
“Come now, I’ll not have you changing the terms when we’ve come this far.”
Joshua made his way to his brother, barefoot and his undershirt slightly hanging off one shoulder. He reached for a strap in Clive’s armour, well familiar with the order in which it was best to remove the pieces by now.
“Someone might be watching,” Clive argued, glancing between the direction of the town and the road. “I should keep watch.”
“Clive,” Joshua gestured towards the tiny blinking lights of mostly dark Dalimil, “you can barely make out anything at this distance. And if anyone were to see and get curious…we would be long gone by the time they made their way here. Torgal will alert us if someone tries to sneak up on us. I promise there is no threat.”
Clive’s frown eventually melted away with a familiar sigh that signalled him raising the white flag, although he did not appear fully convinced.
“It’ll be fun,” Joshua whispered and gave a quick kiss on his brother’s cheek before starting to work on removing the armour in earnest. After helping out with the bulkier pieces, he left Clive to deal with the rest while Joshua divested himself of his remaining clothes. Then, he walked to the brink of the hollow and carefully stepped in, testing with his feet for irregularities before putting his weight properly on them. Thankfully, the bottom was quite smooth with no sharp edges to worry about. He lowered himself into the water and let out a deep, satisfied sigh as it spilled over to accommodate his body, warmth enveloping him gently. The spring was fresh, hot enough that it might sting an average man, but just right for one born with a flame within.
“Good?”
“It’s exquisite, ” Joshua tipped his head back in languid enjoyment, leaning back to slip deeper. “Come and try it for yourself instead of standing all the way there.”
“We hardly need the light anymore.”
Joshua laughed.
“Since when are you such a blushing maiden?” he teased, but allowed the floating fire to sizzle into nothing.
“Just don’t want to attract attention,” Clive shrugged as he walked around the hollow to the other side, starting to lower himself into the water.
There was a deliberate air in the movements that caught Joshua’s attention. He watched closely as Clive twisted his body, and the just barely perceptible strain in his brother’s exhale was enough to confirm his suspicions. He conjured the light back into existence, illuminating Clive’s startled expression and his right side, which he tried to cover with his arm. Joshua took hold of Clive’s wrist and pulled to move it aside, but faced resistance.
“Brother,” he warned.
“It’s nothing. Merely a scratch,” Clive said but failed to meet Joshua’s eyes.
“If it is so, we have no need for this charade. Let me see.”
With utmost reluctance, Clive allowed his arm to be moved aside. Joshua peered at the dark slash stretching down the side from the underarm, surrounded by white edges and reddened skin. He remembered the ice and the levin their foe had rained on them repeatedly, Clive ever a prime target as he kept pressing the attack at close range. At some point, he must have slipped up enough for the extreme cold to burn his flesh through his clothes.
So his reluctance to undress had not been mere paranoia, after all.
“This should have been dealt with hours ago.”
“I took a potion.”
“I can see that has helped tremendously.”
Joshua pulled his brother down to stand on his knees so that the injury remained above water, then raised his own hand, alight with a spell. Clive hissed as the damaged tissue regained sensation and the skin pulled itself together. When the red swelling began to recede, he spoke in a shaky breath.
“It’s healed, you can stop.”
Joshua disregarded the words, continuing to probe the flow of aether through his brother’s body to find any other bumps or scrapes that could have gone unmentioned. The action was not without an edge of petulance, a need to assert that trying to spare Joshua from strain by hiding his own injuries would only lead to the opposite outcome.
Clive reached for his hand and removed it from contact.
“Joshua, that’s enough, ” he glowered and they were surrounded by darkness again as the magic eased up.
The well-trod argument simmered on Joshua’s tongue, but he had no desire to go through it again. Knowing he had made his statement, he went for a peace offering instead.
“Let us hope the famed health benefits are not entirely an invention of the bathhouse owner.”
They both relaxed and dipped deeper into the water, shoulder to shoulder. The initial rush of the hot water had passed and the warmth had made its way deep into their bones, a sweet lull taking over. Joshua privately mourned that the skies were overcast nigh permanently now, for it surely would have been a great place to stargaze.
“I suggested coming here to Jote, once,” Joshua heard himself say, the loosening of tension in his body making his mouth run faster than his mind. “Ah, of course on that occasion my proposition was to bathe separately. Alas, she could not be persuaded, so we paid for a room at the inn—although we ended up vacating it before an opportunity for a wash...”
He had aimed for a light tone, intending to tell an amusing memory from his travels, but Clive’s quietness was heavy.
“This was on your way to the Dominion…wasn’t it.”
Feeling chastened, Joshua pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them.
“To meet His Highness, yes.”
“I felt your presence…at the inn. You were so close I could almost catch your scent, but then…”
Joshua remembered. It had been such a close call, his heart had been beating in his chest so fiercely he had truly feared it would burst out of him, simultaneously terrified of being caught and yearning for it to end his self-imposed avoidance. And yet he had run, like a thief in the night, like the coward he was. Thinking about it still made him hang his head in shame.
“I’m sorry.”
Clive’s arm emerged from the water to cup Joshua’s jaw, making their eyes meet. Clive’s face was twisted in an expression of years-old pain, a stark contrast to the beauty of his eyes.
“I’m not saying this to make you sorry,” he said. “I just want you to understand how much you…how much I…”
He swallowed around the words several times, but they remained lodged in his throat, clawing him raw as he tried to give them a form that could express what he felt. Joshua lifted a hand of his own to stroke his brother’s hair.
“I left you for too long,” he said quietly. “I had my reasons, yet I still regret that.”
“You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”
Clive’s palm slid down Joshua’s neck, caressing his collarbone, and then pressed against Ultima’s cage. A sharp inhale rattled in Joshua’s lungs, but otherwise he made no move. He used to be reluctant to let Clive touch him there, fearing that Ultima could somehow reach out and claim his brother through the contact alone. His resistance had whittled down in time, and now the steady warmth of Clive’s palm pressing against the cold, aching void inside only made him feel good—a bit light-headed, even.
“This,” Clive’s voice continued to rumble between them, “will not take you away from me. I refuse to let it happen.”
Joshua’s mind raced to the multitudes of contingency plans, the desperate what-ifs he had spun during nights spent riding out a wave of agony after another when he had felt like Ultima could prevail at any moment, delirious requests relayed to Jote through gritted teeth. He pushed them all aside and reached for Clive instead.
“I’m here now,” he echoed. “All else is a concern for daylight to fret over.”
He put the topic to rest by inclining his head to invite Clive in for a kiss, and his ever-faithful Shield obliged. It was a lovely scene—bodies pressed close together without distracting layers, the dark of the night their only witness—and opportunities to spend quality time together had been sparse of late, what with their neverending personal duties and the impending end of the world.
Just as Joshua shifted, perhaps to nip at an earlobe mischievously, his vision tilted sideways and only Clive’s arm rising to catch him stopped him from collapsing face first into the water. He felt himself being lifted to sit on the edge of the hollow and, over the whirring in his ears, heard his brother muttering something about ‘overdoing it’ with his flames. He opened his mouth to protest, when he felt something cool and wet nudge against his wrist.
“You’ve even made Torgal worry,” Clive pointed out in the same tone he had used back in Rosalith when Joshua had done something reckless.
“...Did you come check on me, boy?” Joshua felt around the hound’s head to pet it lightly. “There is no cause for alarm—I suspect the water was even more potent than we assumed.”
Even though he focused on Torgal as he spoke, he was watching for Clive’s reaction from the corner of his eye. The Shield rolled his eyes but made no further complaint for he, too, must have noticed that Joshua had not coughed once since entering the water.