Her green eyes pinned on him as he gawked at her. It was really her fault for just going and starting to strip on a whim. She was too used to it and it was honestly her first response. She blushed a bit as he turned around.

“Thought you would like to be carried back and thrown into the water. It sounded funny at the time.” She mused as she took the bar of soap from him. “You aren’t going to get washed up or are you going to wait for me?”

She washed herself up quickly. “God you stink. I can’t tell what is me and what is you.” She had it on her a lot lighter than he did. She used the soap in her hair and washed it out just as easily. She pushed herself out of the water after approaching him and dropping the soap over his shoulder. “Thank you Slime King.”

That was one adventure she would rather not repeat.

–

It had been a few days since the incident with Jace. It left her unnerved and she was careful about going and bathing from then out.

Gogi came over and gave her some soap. “Thank you, buddy,” she reached up and gave him a few head pats and scratches. “Stay on lookout alright?” There was a happy noise and Remedy went about washing herself up before she laid in the water and floated about.

The necklace was between her breasts as it was long but she kept it on for reasons. Today Jace was out doing business in one of the other sections. Her eyes felt heavy and she began to fall asleep in the hot spring. It was easy enough to fall asleep in the water.

Kato and Gogi had their own ideas as they had realized that Remedy liked to fall asleep in the water. She always did it when Jace was away for business. They did a few clicks or whatever it was when they talked before Kato sped off to Jace. The small dragon began to freak out and yell that Remedy was in trouble and not responding in the water.

After the whole eventful day with the Boreas Dragon and the hydras things had been busy but much calmer. This particular day had him addressing the issue of the dryads on the north end of Venti. They of course were quite happy to see him, and it turns out that they were much more receptive to his guidance than he had really anticipated. One of them even mentioned that the reason that they had been so irritated was because the Borea Dragon had been sending colder weather to their edge of the mountain than they wanted. Now that Jace had dealt with the dragon, the Dyads were much happier, and less likely to eat the random island visitors. 

He was on his way back when Kato arrived, screeching about Remedy. In fact it was so frantic that Jace couldn't even understand what the Ataiyoan house dragon was saying. "Whoa, slow down!" he insisted. "What about Remedy?" 

Now that he was paying attention, he could feel her pulse through the necklace. It was rapid, like she was in distress. Jace took off at a dead run back through the trees. He tossed his bag and staff to the side when the hotspring came into view and he plunged into the water without thinking twice as he grabbed Remedy about the waist and hoisted her up so that her head was out of the water.

"Remedy!"

Remedy was having nice and pleasant dreams. It didn’t happen often but when she spent time in the water she was at peace. Floating about the top of the water feeling the Venti air while being in the hot water. It was so nice.

That was when the screaming happened. She wasn’t aware she was out of the water. So when she woke up and he was holding her tightly she began to struggle in his arms. “JACE! What the hell are you doing.” She couldn’t get free as she put her hands across her breasts the best way she could in his arms. “Why are you doing what you are doing?!”

The dragons were snickering nearby. “YOU LITTLE SHITS!” She tried to turn in his arms and all she did was rub up on him and that made her blush. “Jace…” She looked back at him. “Can… You let me go? You are holding onto me really tightly…”

Once he questioned her she blushed more and wiggled in his arms. “Please, let me go?”

"Remedy! Are you ok?!" he asked, a hint of panic rising up in his voice. Then she was screaming at him, demanding to know what he was doing. "What? Kato said you passed out!" 

That's when he heard Gogi and Kato in a nearby tree. He felt his face solidify into a glare as Remedy yelled at the tree, verbalizing his very feelings. However, when she spoke, he looked at her a bit confused. "Uh… what?" he asked, not registering what she had said. He felt her wiggle in his grasp, and she repeated her request. He looked down for a second then it clicked and he released her in a hurry and quickly turned around, his face growing quite red. 

"Right… uh, sorry," he apologized. "I honestly thought you were in trouble. Your heartbeat was fast, like you were in trouble…" he tried to explain. He sighed and clambered out of the hot spring. 

Once he dropped her she held her arms over her breasts more and sunk down into the water. She sort of felt violated by the little dragons for sending him after her. “I… like to sleep in the hot spring. It helps me feel more refreshed as of late.” Her voice was soft which wasn’t normally the case with Jace. Normally she was throwing up a front and being an ass.

“So you were worried about me then?”

When she thought she was getting too soft she turned her back on him. “You are a damn pervert. Holding me tight like that.” She threw that wall right back up hard. His response to her was less than satisfactory as she looked back at him.

“I mean you aren’t saying anything so I must be right.” She covered herself up more as he looked back at her if only for a moment. “I would believe you if you told me because I… value your opinion.”

For a moment or two, there was silence before he told her his response. She sunk down into the water and bubbled at him for a moment before he started to walk away. “But what if I want you to look?” It was a spur of the moment thing where her face went red and she instantly regretted saying it.

"You like to slee–you know you can cook your—oh never mind!" he growled clearly getting flustered as he turned and started clambering out of the hot spring. He huffed in irritation at her next question. "Of course I was! You die, I die, remember?" he said in exasperation as he twisted water out of his clothes and started walking away from the spring, his face still a flustered red. When she called him a pervert, he decided it wasn't even worth trying to change her mind. He rolled his eyes skyward and threw his arms up in defeat. Clearly she had hope for more of a reaction because she called his lack of defense a confirmation. He sighed and glanced over his shoulder at her slightly. 

"Honestly, Remedy, are you going to believe me if I tell you otherwise?" he asked, his tone a skeptic one. She surprised him by tell him she actually did value his opinion. He sighed and put his hands on his hips, and shook his head. "I've never looked at a woman who didn't want me to look," he told her simply and went to walk off. 

Her next question caught him completely off guard and he actually tripped over his own feet in surprise, before he actually looked back at her, a look of bewilderment on his face. She was sunk in the water up to her chin so there was nothing for him to see except her white blonde hair that was plastered to her face. 
"Have the levels of Circulos Inferos frozen over or something?" he asked wide-eyed.

Remedy came up to the edge of the hot spring and put her chin on her arms as she watched him. “Maybe you just brought my shell down. However, with an answer like that, you can go fuck yourself.” She gave a smile and dipped herself back into the water all the way.

–

The next two months were interesting. They had to be careful around each other. Remedy didn’t know how many times Jace had actually walked in on her changing. At first, it was really awkward and after a while, she managed while he was in the house. Though his reactions were cute and funny to her she was really starting to wonder what the hell was wrong with her if anything.

There was also the matter of the hot spring. She didn’t know when it started but she would go about the same time he was in there. She would wait for him to be done and there was no harm in watching him. It’s not like she saw anything. She about gagged the dragon when it caught her. She put her finger to her lips and enjoyed the silence surrounding the two.

They worked so much better when they weren’t running their mouths off at each other. Sometimes though they did work well together. So she sat there like she always did waiting behind the bush just watching.

That was more like the Remedy he had come to know. However, after that, he found himself constantly having his chivalry tested. He seemed to walk in on Remedy at the worst time possible and it was rather annoying. His dragons got a good laugh at it though. The first few times he had reacted with typical fluster and embarrassment. But after a couple weeks of it happening at least twice a week, he had hit the point would just accept it with a sight and not allow it to bother him anymore. He would still be respectful and not stare, however. 

What was more interesting was how she had come to start watching HIM while HE was bathing. From what he understood it typically was the other way around. He noticed however, that it wasn't more than simply waiting for her turn to bathe herself. 

Finally after a while of her lurking in the bushes where she thought he could not sense her, he finally looked over his shoulder and sighed. 
"You know, you would have called me a pervert for lurking in the bushes and watching you bathe," he said. "You might as well come join me," he said. 

Remedy found herself in a bit of a panic the moment he called her out. For a few moments her body shook with a fear. Was he angry at her? "It's not what you think… At least not completely." 

He told her to get in the water anyways and she took a huge gulp before coming out of the bushes. So much for that bush hiding her smell. All she wanted to do was wait for her turn. She dropped the towel around her and slid into the water. Looking up at the little ones she blushed a bit as they normally got a kcik out of everything.

"Are you sure you're okay with this Jace?" Her face was flustered but she hid herself under the water. She still wasn't sure what to make of it. When he asked her if she was she there was a shrug. "Guess I've gotten used to it." It was very awkward as she turned from him and went under the water to wet her hair. She hesitated before coming back up to the surface. Gods she should have just stayed in the cottage and waited.

"I wouldn't have invited you in if I minded," he said, a slight smile on his face. "But the question is are YOU okay with it?" he asked in return. Her response made him chuckle softly and he waited while she submerged herself. She was under for quite a while and he knew it was probably because this was not what she had expected him to do, frankly he was surprised at himself as well. 

When she finally did resurface, he lightly tapped her shoulder and handed her a coarse cloth and the bar of scented Sularian soap. "Here," he said gently. He glanced over his shoulder at her back and her fluffy white cherub wings. 

"I could help you preen your wings, if you want," he offered her. "I won't peek or anything," he promised.