Chapter 91: 090 Bathroom Brokering

Diana approached the bathroom after she felt a suitably long period of time had passed. It was decision borne of consideration for Titanyana and her relationship with Diana and Gretts. She couldn't give Titanyana the idea that their meeting was planned, the circumstances needed to feel natural.

Diana set down the neatly folded set of clothes she was to wear later in the day on one of the slatted wooden benches. Taking note of the steamy air, she began to strip. Despite the stiflingly warm and humid air, the tiling was cold to the touch.

As she peeled the clothes off of her skin, she thought about her game plan. She would walk in, acting clueless to Titanyana's presence, and rinse herself as usual. After applying soap and properly cleaning herself, she would enter the bath and act ignorant of who she was in the bath with. She was still having an internal debate as to whether she should act stressed to put herself in a position to relate to Titanyana, or relaxed so that she seemed more approachable.

Diana supposed that she could hypothetically do both, relaxing because she was stressed, but it would ultimately depend on how Titanyana reacted to her appearance in the bathroom.

"Alright. Let's go." Diana picked up a towel from the pile to the side and headed in towards a stool in one of the lightly recessed pits. Trading the towel for the wooden bucket, she dunked it into the trench of water that flowed through the room and poured it onto herself.

She began to shiver almost immediately after contact with her skin. If she had to choose, this first douse was her least favorite part of the bathing process she was expected to conform to. That said, she could not deny it was refreshing. The cold water woke her up and made the moment she stepped into the warm water all that more relaxing. The second bucket was not nearly as much an issue for her, but the fact she needed a second to fully wet herself only highlighted her inexperience.

Content with how wet she was, she picked up the bar of soap and began to rub herself with it. She followed this with a hard bristle brush, scrubbing her skin almost raw to clean herself of dead skin and any dirt or sweat. Her nails would have to suffice for carving away the grime from her more delicate areas, but she had confidence that would not be an issue. Her concerns surrounded the lack of shampoo and conditioner, it seemed everyone just used the same soap for everything.

Convinced she had done what she could, she once again poured water over her head. It was fine if a little soap was left, but she was told it was rude to sully the hot bath with too many soap suds. Diana could not help but marvel at the design of the bathroom as her soapy water ran down to the trench she retrieved her own water from. Obviously the stream was thanks to the Great Csillacra in some manner or another, but Diana never thought that an interior waterway could be used like this.

Diana got up and stretched, moaning slightly as some of the tension left her body. Wrapping the towel around her body, she headed for the bath where a figure with black and brown hair was only barely keeping her nose above water. Titanyana was watching her, that much was obvious, but the wet hair plastered to her face combined with the fact that her mouth was submerged meant that Diana could not determine her expression.

For the time being, Diana would act like Titanyana wasn't staring a hole through her chest. She could be discreet, especially if she didn't know how her conversation partner would react once she engaged.

- - - - -

Titanyana wasn't really confused as to why Diana was in the bath with her, the reason was apparent. Diana wanted to take a bath while it was still warm. What Titanyana wanted to know was why she was here now. 

To her knowledge, Diana had plans today. She didn't know what those plans were, but surely she shouldn't be in here bathing with her right? Or maybe Diana was bathing because she had plans today? But why would she be cleaning up now?

Either way, Titanyana could tell that she was being intentionally ignored. She wasn't stupid, so she could see that this was a silence borne of consideration for her current mental state. However, this morsel of information made it that much more difficult for her to start a conversation.

Titanyana forced herself to an internal stalemate as to whether she should get up and leave or start a conversation.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about?" Diana's voice ended her deliberation. 

"...not particularly?"

"For some reason I don't quite believe you." Diana's eyes remained closed and her head didn't move from it's position on one of the wooden headrests that lined the edge of the bath.

"Why?"

"It might have something to do with the daggers you call eyes you're pointing my direction."

Diana had her there. She hadn't realized it, but Titanyana had been staring at Diana for quite some time now, and the excuse 'just because' wouldn't cut it.

"Is there something you want me to tell Donovan?" Titanyana remained quiet, too embarrassed to speak, as Diana opened an eye to look her way. "Is there anything about Donovan you want me to tell you about?"

Titanyana could not stop her ear from flicking, something which Diana picked up on.

"What do you want to know?" 

Titanyana still couldn't build the courage to speak up. Faced with her silence, Diana sighed, which only served to make Titanyana more embarrassed. 

"You know, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." Finally, Diana moved. She stood up and moved to sit closer to Titanyana. "We have no intention of letting you go Titanyana." Diana propped her head up with her hand on the edge of the bath and looked into Titanyana's eyes.

Titanyana bubbled a bit before speaking again.

"Why are you being so kind to me?"

It was a simple question, but it was one that had been gnawing at Titanyana ever since they had met. To her, it would have made more sense for Diana to be cold to her, all of her initial interactions with the nobility were that way. It paid to be cautious around people you don't know, and it raised suspicions if you did not conform to that norm.

"Is it really that odd to show kindness to those you work with?" Titanyana nodded, though to be honest she wasn't so sure herself. "Ugh, well, I'm sure that our situation will give you a go enough reason for our disposition won't it? We need allies, connections at the very least, and we find that showing favorability to those we consider future prospects is an excellent way to secure our chances. We want you as an ally, Titanyana."

"Why? My people are too poor to help you in any way, and I've only been trouble since I've arrived!"

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"And? Poor though they may be they are still far greater in number than we are. If we can rely on your people as a source of compensated labor to assist in our reconstruction, we would both prosper. We wouldn't mind taking citizens you might consider a burden on as our own in order to grow our population base faster. You were at that meeting with the Arboreal Maiden and the Montaug, so you should see a glimpse of what I'm talking about."

Diana stretched her legs, lifting one of them out of the water momentarily before continuing.

"Besides, you been nothing but a good teacher for Donovan ever since you started. He thinks quite highly of you. In fact, he was very worried yesterday after you seized up."

"He was?" Titanyana struggled to believe it.

"Of course. Donovan strongly believes he might have done something he shouldn't have, something that triggered memories of a traumatic experience or the like. Did he touch you somewhere he shouldn't have?"

The implied meaning here was that Diana was concerned he might have inadvertently sexually harassed her.

"...no." Titanyana understood that meek rejection was not convincing on its own. "It was a brilliant move, it just did something to me I can't describe."

"Can't describe because it would be inappropriate or because you don't understand?"

"Because I don't understand."

"Hm. I get it, just a little at least. The unknown can be frightening to confront, I was the same when I first entered zero-gravity, but trying to explain it can help. I might be able to clear up some of your confusion."

- - - - -

Gretts listened in on their conversation from just outside the bathing room, content to wait out their soak but unwilling to leave the vulnerable Titanyana unsupervised. She could ill afford to meddle in her growth, but that was conditional that growth was indeed occurring. Gretts had already made the commitment to take Titanyana under her wing as she had many others, and she would be willing to go against her employer to make sure she recovered properly.

Fortunately it seemed that her intervention would not be necessary today, and it was unlikely she would ever have to get in between Titanyana and Diana based on their interactions with each other. Diana desired a closer relationship with Titanyana, both socially and politically, while Titanyana desperately wanted to not be cast aside. There could be any number of reasons why that might be the case, but Gretts strongly suspected it had a close relationship with the mumbling in her sleep.

Gretts' thanks towards Diana only grew as their conversation drew longer. Not only was Diana helping Titanyana piece together why she panicked, but she was drawing her out of that shell she had built for herself. She wasn't exactly carrying the conversation the way a normal person would be expected to, but Gretts did not expect that of her. This was bound to be a slow process, with bad habits destroyed over long periods of time. 

"How about you join me on my errand today?" A sudden shift in topic drew Gretts' focus. "I won't go s far as to say a bodyguard is necessary, but if I could have you as an escort instead of Donovan, it would leave him free to train the three musketeers out there a little bit longer. We could even talk a bit more in the carriage."

That wasn't part of the plan, but Gretts didn't particularly mind. In fact, she had been looking for an excuse to have her leave the barracks in a bid to get her as far away from her room as possible. If she was a betting woman, she would go all in on the gamble that Titanyana rarely ever left her room if not to train.

She was young, she had a future, and she needed to spend it interacting with other people before it was too late.

"I think, maybe?" Titanyana was deliberating, that much was obvious even when Gretts couldn't see her. Now was the time to make her entrance.

"Why do you sound so indecisive Titanyana? I'd be fine if you just said no. I'm fine either way."

"It's - I - I don't think I should be interfering with your business like that. Wouldn't I be a burden?"

"Oh would you stop it with that? All you would have to do is sit silently by my side while we pick him and his belongings up from the tavern. Worst case scenario you end up having to subdue some errant lowlife. That hardly sounds like something you can't handle now does it?"

Gretts poured the bucket of water over her head in much the same way Diana had, the sound drawing Titanyana's attention but leaving Diana unfazed. "I think you should go with her, Titanyana."

- - - - -

"DOWN! UP!" Donovan was still in the middle of conditioning his troops. "DOWN! UP!" Getting them to the level of physical endurance he desired was going to be a long process, but it was something he was ready to do. "DOWN! UP!" Of course, he wasn't one to skimp out on training, so he was doing push ups with them. "DOWN! UP!" For the moment at least, his sessions with Titanyana were on pause, so he would need some method of keeping in shape. "DOWN! UP!" It wasn't like he could train tactics with this lot yet anyways, though he had considered that maybe it was about time to start educating them on basic English and mathematics. "DOWN! UP!" However, that would have to wait until the Scholar secured some chalk and a board for him to work with. "DOWN! UP!"

Apparently, there weren't as easy to come by as he might have thought. Donovan had been taught about the difficulties of spatial logistics in a single solar system, but he imagined it was only going to get that much harder when intersystem transportation was involved. That being said, he still had no idea how such transportation was handled.

"Hey Donovan." His exercise was interrupted by Diana calling from the window. "Change of plans in regards to picking up Rize today. Titanyana is going to act as my escort, so you can train your boys for a little bit longer."

"Really? I thought she was staying inside today."

"I had a bit of a girl talk with her, don't worry about it. She still might not be in a state to teach you for a few more days, but I think she can handle bodyguard duty. What do you think?" 

"That's fine." Diana nodded and closed the window. "You hear that guys? It looks like we get more time together today! I'm thinking you can handle another jog."

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