Bathing With Women

Writers: Joy, Victoria Voss
Date Posted: 13th November 2005

Characters: Arcon, Marza
Description: Arcon's first co-ed bath ends badly
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 8, day 19 of Turn 3

Arcon had been picking odd times to bathe since he'd arrived. So far, this plan had allowed him to succeed in avoiding what, was to his mind, one of the most potentially mortifying situation. He'd only been at the Weyr for a little while now though... he should have known his luck was going to run out sooner or later.

It was quite late, and nearly the entire Weyr was asleep. So, Arcon decided it would be safe to take a bath. When he arrived at the communal bathing pool, he was happy to find it empty. However, just after he'd eased himself into the hot bathing pool waters, another person entered. A young woman who looked to be about his age.

Marza stumbled into the bathing room, half asleep. It had been a long day out in the fields and she could definitely use a good soak to ease her tired muscles. As she checked for dry spots to put her clothes, she noticed that she was not alone.

"Hello," Marza wiggled her fingers at the figure in the pool as she put her clothes down and began to undress.

Frozen in shock, Arcon simply stood, waist-deep in the water and watched as the young woman began removing her clothes. However, once the reality of the situation sank in, he turned around abruptly, his face burning. Then he suddenly realized his own state of dress, or lack there-of, and sat down in the water so that only his head was exposed.

It wasn't that he wasn't curious about the female body. There was a big part of his brain that wanted to peek behind him at the girl undressing. But it was just...wrong. Wrong. Everything he'd ever known in life told him it was wrong and having been told recently that it wasn't couldn't overcome that so quickly.

Oblivious and exhausted, Marza slowly finished her undressing and stepped over to the edge of the pool. She turned to look at Arcon in confusion, "Something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" Arcon winced as his voice cracked in a way it hadn't done since he was fourteen years old.

"You sure?" Marza looked curiously at the young man as she slipped into the pool. She slid in so just her shoulders were above water and rested her head back on the side of the pool. Relaxing, she sighed contentedly.

"Yes. I'm sure. Thank you." To demonstrate just how perfectly fine everything was, he grabbed his wash cloth and soap in order to begin the perfectly ordinary act of bathing. However, once the items were in his hands, he realized he had a problem. He'd need to stand up for the washing to be effective...and to do that when there was a woman in the room was unimaginable.

So, he sat there. staring at the soap and washcloth in his hands, trying to figure out how to wash himself under water without the water rinsing all the soap off the wash cloth.

Marza sighed contentedly, her eyes closed. "So you're Arcon, right?"

"Yes ma'am," he answered distractedly. Being completely unaware that she wasn't even looking at him, he was frantically trying to think of a way to hurry up and finish this bath. He finally decided it would be safe to hold his arms above the water and wash them and so was doing so as he added, "I don't think I know you're name though."

"Oh sorry," Marza opened her eyes and leaned her head so she could see Arcon, "I'm Marza, one of the vintners around here." She smiled briefly at him, then closed her eyes and leaned her head back again.

The complete lack of splashing sounds accompanying her voice, made him glance carefully over his shoulder in her general direction. He made sure that he didn't look directly at her, in case she might be revealing more than was decent, but he was quite relieved... and maybe a little disappointed... to find that she was completely submerged.
Only her head was above the water. And her eyes were closed. He decided to risk standing in the waist-deep water and getting the top half of him clean while he could.

"A vinter? Really?" He replied, his tone still mostly distracted, but a bit curious as well. Working a vinyard wasn't quite the same as working a wheat field, but there were some similarities.

"Umm hmm" Marza turned her head and opened her eyes, looking curiously at the young man who was busy bathing himself. She tried to look into his face as good bathing protocol warranted, but his face wasn't where it was the last time she looked. Marza's eyes traveled appreciatively up Arcon's chest until they found his face again. She smiled, "So what do you do? Or did you do before you came to the Weyr?"

"I worked in my cothold's wheat fields," Arcon glanced over to the young woman after replying and froze when his eyes caught hers. For a moment, he didn't know what to do now that she was actually looking at him.

Marza chuckled, "Sounds like working in the vineyards. Which is where _I_ spent all day." Marza tried not to sound sour about that last bit. Tried.

Deciding, to his amazement, that she wasn't paying him a bit of attention, he tried to relax and continue bathing. He was further surprised by the tiny spurt of petulant feelings. Somehow, some part of him was upset that she was so nonchalant about bathing with him.
Embarrassed by the feeling, he pushed it aside and focused on what the woman had said. "You don't sound happy about it. Don't enjoy your trade?"

Marza shrugged, "It's not to bad." Her voice took on a wistful tone, "I'd rather be flying a dragon like my mother."

Arcon was somewhat surprised, even after the days he'd been here, that the reason for her apparent discontent was that she'd rather be a dragonrider than that she'd rather not be a crafter at all. He glanced over at her taking in as much as he dared before focusing on his wash cloth again, he decided she couldn't be much older than him, if at all. "You couldn't Stand for the next hatching?"

"Umm Hmm ... " Marza's eyes turned thoughtful, "I'm going to try. My grandmother's not to big on dragonriders." She snorted in frustration and sunk deeper into the water.

"She lives here at the Weyr?" He thought it an odd place to live if you didn't like dragonriders.

"Of course!" Marza grinned, "She got fed up with the Vintner Hall and moved here. Grandfather was a dragonrider, so she stayed."

This answer confused Arcon even more, so much so that he forgot he was bathing with a girl at all. "I thought she didn't like dragonriders?"
he asked.

Marza sat up and turned to face Arcon. She shrugged, "She likes dragonriders okay, just not for her family. Grandfather died in a fall and Grandmother is scared she'll lose the rest of us that way."
Marza reached for the soap and began to wash her shoulders and arms.
Marza grinned, "She likes J'an just fine."

"Well, she's got a point. It is dangerous, are you sure you want to Stand?"

"Of course!" Marza's eyes shone with anticipation, "To fly ... how could I not take the chance?." She smiled at Arcon, "Besides, you're taking the chance .. why shouldn't I?" The young vintner sat up a little higher and continued to wash.

"It's ok for me to go into danger, I'm a man. But you," he stopped suddenly unsure. Things were so different here, he knew that and usually kept such thoughts to himself. "I mean, well, you know." He gestured towards her and blushed a bit. Calling her attention to her femininity worked to remind himself as well. Along with the fact that he was bathing with her.

"Oh?" Marza raised an eyebrow, her voice hardening, "I know what?"

"Nothing. Nevermind." His face was burning though for a different reason now. This was why he usually kept these thoughts to himself. He didn't want to offend anyone, and this girl had been nothing but courteous to him given the circumstances.

"Nevermind? Nevermind!" Marza practically growled, "Of all the outdated ideas! Women have just as much right to do whatever they want as men!" Frustrated with the lack of relaxation in this bath, Marza stepped out of the bath and headed for her towel. Quickly drying off and tossing on a long tunic she turned to Arcon once more, "You'd better learn quickly that women have the same rights as men around here or the Weyrwoman might just find out how you think and I doubt that she'd be amused!!" With that parting shot, she stormed out of the bathing chamber.

Arcon watched her leave, jaw hanging. He really hadn't intended to insult her, but that's obviously what'd happened. Her parting words echoed in his mind. Would he be sent away? He was really trying and up until now he'd thought he'd been making at least a little progress in accepting women in wildly different roles than the ones he'd grown up knowing.

Apparently not. He just didn't know what else he could do. How did one completely change a lifetime's worth of perception?

Last updated on the November 13th 2005

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Bathing With Women