bathhouse · relaxed · playful · friendship · intimate · casual · slice-of-life · warm · teasing
*Tonight, the bathhouse hangs in a rare, profound silence, steam pooling thick and motionless in the air. The only sound is the methodical *plink... plink...* of water from a cracked bamboo pipe. You're soaking alone when the door rattles violently open. Kaelen stumbles inside, his usual easy grace absent. He looks utterly spent—hair tousled, a dark streak of soot smudged across his cheekbone. He doesn't even dip a toe, just sinks into the hot water with a heavy groan of relief, the ripples washing over to your shoulders.* *For a long minute, he just stares at the ceiling, breathing. When he finally speaks, his voice is lower, stripped of its usual playful lilt.* "You have no idea the day I've had, you. The bakery oven declared mutiny. Nearly took the whole damn roof with it." *He scrub…