A Night at a Tea-House (Private)

Salzem watched as Mia thanked him, then shivered in the icy shadow of midnight. For a moment, he did nothing, observing her quaking with an unrecognizable expression before taking his cloak, closing the distance between them and he draped her in it. He said nothing as he did this act of kindness, nor did he think. It was something of an instinctual response. She was cold and he wore two layers of heavy warmth material to block his own discomforts. As the cloak rested itself on Mia's shoulders, she'd feel how heavy it actually was. It was almost like it were training weights, heavy, dense, but warm all the same. With his cloak on her shoulders, Mia reached out and wrapped her hand gently around Salzem's steel gauntlet-coated ones. Salzem stared at their hands, considering whether or not to tear his away. It would be the second time a girl had tried to hold his hand and it would be the second time she would have her way. It was too late in the night for Salzem to be unnecessarily cold and closed off. In addition, he had already given her his heaviest item of personal comfort, his cloak, so letting her have his hand seemed an even enough trade. His sanguine eyes flicked up to her face, catching the warmth in her smile, causing his face to turn a light shade of pink yet again. Why was she acting this way around him? Love at first sight was garbage.... but that seemed to be what she was acting like.... What they were acting like... It was embarrassing....... He had just showed up and they were already acting like this... Why...?

She coaxed him back towards the tea-house, tugging him forward and teasing him about him getting sick of cold and her needing to take care of him. Somehow, he didn't think she'd mind such an event. He remembered she said he should take another bath as she shivered in the cold. As they stepped back into the teahouse, a thought wormed its way into Salzem's mind and it only made his blush proceed from pink to red. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly with his free hand, silent for only a moment more.

"Uh... You look cold too, you know... maybe you should grab a bath yourself... Warm up and all that." They'd both be standing at the opening to one of the springs, as warm and comforting as they were when Salzem had his own bath. Steam rose from the divine waters, the heat making him uncomfortable in his heavy coat.

Salzem stood there in the doorway of the house, his cheeks still that heavy red under his mask, almost the shade of a setting Suna sun. Mia smiled at him knowingly in response to his earlier.... comment. She agreed with him, promising to be back soon as she disappeared into a new room with his cloak. For several moments, Salzem did nothing but stand there and feel awkward, his thoughts a scrambled mess of several levels of confusion and conflict. He couldn't believe he had just said what he thought he said. It was shameful, it was inappropriate... it wasn't right and yet... he had said it and she had agreed. He didn't know what to make of himself, much less Mia. The adrenalin that rushed Salzem's veins masked the exhaustion gnawing at his consciousness and scrambling his thoughts further.  He quietly loomed in the entrance of the Teahouse as he attempted to recollect his thoughts. Futile. Then, out of the chaos, a thought rose. A clear, loud thought that only made his blushing spread from his cheeks to across the bridge of his nose.

God, she's cute.

It was like a flash of clarity, a moment of understanding where everything just became clear. Maybe it was a thought he already had, something he suppressed for fear of his lack of understanding. He didn't know. His mind gradually cleared as he accepted that, yes, he had just thought that, but that didn't mean that he was any less embarrassed. Still standing there, his head hung low in deep thought and contemplation, his blush receded just a bit, no longer painting his white canvas-of-a-face red. He waited for Mia to return, seeing as it was the polite thing to do and, since it wasn't his house, he couldn't just wander about it freely. While the... uh... "cute girl" worked on her laundry with his cloak, Salzem looked about the interior of the tea-house, examining the architecture, enjoying the design choices, but his thoughts constantly floated back to Mia. They were on some kind of one-tracked mind, locked on how generous she was, how kind and sweet she had been to him moments before and... how cute she had been. It... was... SHE was... comforting to be around, if mysterious. She had this air of... not complete honesty but maybe that's what contributed to his attraction. She intrigued him... a woman of mystery and a guy like him... Opposites attract was garbage.... Love at first sight was garbage and yet.... here he was. Was it even love? Did he know what love was?

Salzem kept telling himself that this was all wrong, that they had just met and under the strangest of circumstances. He told himself that this wasn't attraction and that he was simply confused but again and again, he was contradicted by his own feelings. They told him that it just didn't matter. Yes, he was confused, but that was okay. He could afford to know nothing, to be open... It was strange yes, but he could be himself. He could be the person he'd locked up for years. It was a thought he''d never think he'd hear.

Salzem blushed darkly as Mia led him to the spring and asked for him to turn, not wanting him to see her disrobe. He did as he was asked, rational thought failing him and all those iron barriers he'd put up over his emotions crumbling like wet sand. They danced in his stomach, so many all at the same time, enjoying their freedom. The chaos within Salzem was staggering, but relaxing all at the same time. It was like... he had been reunited with a part of himself he'd lost long ago... All Salzem could hear going on behind him was the sound of clothes rubbing against itself, the sound of fabric meeting fabric. Salzem did his best to keep out the images that coincided with the sounds, only being slightly successful to his dismay. After a short period of discomforting silence, Salzem heard Mia call his name, saying that it was alright to "come over." Taking a deep breath, he turned and headed back into the Spring, his eyes widening just a little as he saw Mia there, in the spring. His blush intensified, but he kept some semblance of his cool, trying desperately to clear the buzz that flooded his mind at such a sight.

"I need you to turn around now..." Salzem spoke with a steadiness he did not expect. Honestly, he was afraid to speak for if he did, it might come out as him stumbling endlessly over his words. Salzem quietly prayed to whatever deity that ruled over him, hoping that Mia would allow him those moments he gave her. He began disrobing quickly, folding his clothes neatly and laying them on the bench just outside the spring-room where the lockers were. Salzem took little care with the folding process, caring not for how perfect his clothes might appear in the meantime. He sunk into the spring's water quietly and quickly next to Mia, smiling a little at how her hair was tied back. He assumed that she didn't want it to be effected by the water should she get splashed. This time, as he bathed, he had left his mask over with the rest of his clothes, revealing his lower face. He cursed himself for his mistake. He felt.... exposed...

"I'm in the bath, Mia..." Salzem spoke, somehow managing to not sound like a complete idiot. Mia said she was nervous, and he understood that perfectly. He was nervous, embarrassed, and scared that he was doing something horribly, horribly wrong. Unlike any other time where he had a clear focus on what was and wasn't, Salzem couldn't tell. He genuinely couldn't make heads or tails of this whole event. It was quick, it was terrifying, but somewhere inside, there was a nugget of warm, soothing peace. It was the only thing keeping him here... well, that and Mia who graced him with her presence...

Salzem sat there in the spring, practically drawn so inward, it was a wonder he hasn't imploded yet. He glanced at Mia, his sanguine eyes locking onto hers as her leg brushed up against his own. Not a moment later, she had drawn much closer, a hand rubbing the right side of his face. Salzem nearly recoiled in surprise as how quickly she had advanced, cracking jokes about how there was, in fact a face under his mask. Yeah... he sometimes forgot he had one himself. He chuckled lightly, nervously, his eyes glancing off to the side in some sort of embarrassment as she touched the scar running along his cheek. Then, things seemed to spiral out of control. Mia smiled at him, whispering that his scar was "handsome" before kissing it. He froze, completely paralyzed by the gesture. His eyes no longer wandered to the side, they locked onto her face as she rose out of the bath and over him, drawing closer and closer.

"Mia, I..." Salzem managed to utter before he was cut off. Her lips connected with his and his eyes shot open, completely shell-shocked. Mia placed her hand on his chest, likely feeling the quick, heavy pounding of his heart in his pale chest. Now, not only were his thoughts scrambled, they were gone. Completely. It was an empty void of silence as she kissed him in the baths. He shivered in something that was definitely not cold, slowly being taken in by their connection. His eyes, once hard and shocked, seemed to melt and lower into a much more submissive state. His stomach fluttered about with butterflies and his heart.... it felt like it'd break a rib. Only a moment into their kiss, Salzem found himself kissing back, meeting her gentle pressure with his own. It was like he was watching himself from the third person... It felt foreign... strange... but the feeling that accompanied it... it was something he'd never forget. He watched himself be kissed by this girl he had met maybe an hour and a half ago, and he watched himself meet her challenge. Salzem was terrified, but was by no means wanting it to stop... the feelings coursing through him firmly outweighed any fear lingering within.

Mia broke their kiss, sinking back down into warm spring waters. She guided him down to her, using a finger to beckon him closer and closer until he was the one leaning over her. She kissed him again, softer, longer, and he met the kiss with his own, him being in a pure state of serenity. He kissed her upper lip as she did his lower, locked together in a state of euphoria. It was like nothing mattered, like everything else was a dream and that this was the only thing that was real. Then, it ended. Mia had broken their connection again, severing any peace Salzem had found in their moment. All the chaos came back again. With a vengeance. Emotions of embarrassment and violation alarmed through Salzem's head, going off like tornado sirens. He blushed the deepest shade of red he had yet and turned his head away, closing his eyes. The only thing he could hear was a looping track of "This is wrong", playing over and over in his head. In fact, it was playing so intensely, Salzem mouthed the words, speaking them under his breath. The core of his embarrassment was that he hardly even knew Mia and that he had just participated in this... intimate activity with her. In a bath. Most people never get this moment until they are well into their 3rd or 4th dates and Salzem had just been handed it on a plate. It was humbling to say the least. Humbling and embarrassing. The worst part was, he couldn't clear his mind, get up and leave as he had come in: Stoic, firm and having some amount of self respect. His body wouldn't let him move. On some level, he wanted to stay... on some level, this desire resisted his brain's command viciously. They both sat on their carved seats, silent and distant from one another for what seemed like the longest time. It seemed it'd go on like that forever until Mia placed her hand on his arm, timidly but firmly, as if to assure him that these feelings, this connection was something shared, not just her or him. Somehow, knowing this made him feel just a little better.

With all the willpower he could muster, Salzem turned his head back to face Mia, his sanguine eyes hesitantly locking onto her face once again, the face that had kissed him. The worst part about his inner turmoil was that he could feel his emotions for her rise, increase in magnitude despite his resistance. 

"Mia... I'm sorry..." Salzem spoke quietly. "I... I don't know what just happened..."