A Relaxing Soak

Rosamel had closed her tea house for a couple days. It was popular enough to let herself have some down time. She learned that when she had been learning to make dango and mochi. Today, though, she did not close shop to take on a learning opportunity. Today was all about relaxing. She had booked a private soak in a hot spring, and she was going to take full advantage of the time.

She checked in and was led to a private spring area. The steam already had her relaxing.  Once fully alone, the sloth bun carefully removed her clothes. She spent too much on her tailor to risk a tear. She carefully folded the fabric and put it on a shelf, along with her glasses.

She used a big clip to pin her hair up. The sloth bun then grabbed her towel. She sat the towel safely away from the water. She walked to the edge of the water and carefully got in. She hummed softly as she sunk into the hot spring, the warmth seeming to seep into her skin like a brewing tea. Around the far edge of the water were willow trees and wisteria vines, leading to the most relaxing combination of scents that stuck to the steam.

She sat in the water, letting it sit just beneath her chin. She closed her eyes, letting her other senses take in the moment. She heard the soft splash as something small dropped into the water, likely a portion of one of the nearby plants. She did not feel any ripples, so whatever it was was definitely tiny.

She took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the willow and wisteria. She was reminded of a tea she used in her shop that was wisteria, chamomile, and vanilla. For a moment, she wished that she had a hot spring to use at her home, but she realized that would be a bad idea, as her imps would insist that it was a pool or a bath and not something strictly for her.

She also figured that the other part of that idea was not great either as hot tea at a hot spring could result in fainting, and she would be a bit worried about fainting when completely alone. She shook her head before reaching up and pulling the clip from her hair.

The ends of her hair were soaked in moments. It spread around her in a semicircle. She took another deep breath, the scent of wisteria filling her nostrils. She then dunked her head beneath the water, soaking every strand of hair, and even getting her small horns wet.

Her head broke the surface of the water and her hair draped, practically clinging, along her back. She let her blue, practically sapphire, eyes examine the spring again. She could see the ripples radiating from where she was. She moved one of her hands and distorted the ripples.

She took another breath and began to hum. There wasn’t a tune at first, then she began to sing softly, a mellow rhythm forming from her voice. The song was almost like a lullaby, soothing and gentle to the ears, though the lyrics were more of an epic poem.

She let the words weave into an adventure story. She had remembered Cailean telling her about this song once and briefly Rosamel wondered how it would sound accompanied by bagpipes. She forgot that thought as she continued to sing, the story carried through the air.

The song ended as softly as it began, the last note lingering only briefly enough to let Rosamel know she had finished the tale. She closed her eyes again and took slow, careful breaths. She let the silence fill the spring again, her mind clearing finally. She opened her eyes again. She stayed in the water for a few more minutes before getting out.

She clipped her hair up again and wrapped herself in a pink towel as she walked back inside. She carefully dried her body before getting dressed once again. She then folded the towel and put it over her shoulder. She walked back to the front and checked out before heading back home.