Beðungum (or: Tempus ut lavaretur)

[pendraeg]

Who: Uther and Chase and Eilonwy and Gwydion. And Old Lace.
What: Bathtime
When: Immediately after the Abstract discovery thread.
Where: The Castle

Comments

[chaseandoldlace]

"You're not the only one. Get in there you filthy lizard." Chase pushed a disgruntled looking velociraptor ahead of him directly into a wide shower stall, fiddled with a few knobs until the soft hiss of warm water filled the room, followed by the smell of wet earth. He placed the extra towels slung over one shoulder on the edge of a wide ceramic sink.

"I think they might have been helping OL and Adamant dig for gophers again." They'd been so distracted with the Abstract the presence of a very dirty, slightly guilty-looking dog had slipped their notice entirely. Adamant hung back now at the door to the bathroom, muddy snout lowered as she started determinedly at the floor. " Here, lemme take that."

Chase pulled his own shirt off and tossed it into the hamper, then held a hand out for Uther's just in time for the first ill-aimed splash in the nightly splash war to hit the young king square in the chest.

[pendraeg]

Well, there was nothing for it now but to join in--it was clear everyone was going to get wet, and everyone needed to be cleaned. Uther often tried to remain dry while he bathed the twins, to little avail. They were very enthusiastic; they had taken the social nature of bathing to heart.

Uther slipped his tunic over his head and handed it to Chase. A second splash of water, this time in his face. He'd missed just who it was had done the splashing, but Eilonwy was busy sorting all the toys that squirted water from all the toys that scooped water or merely floated in water. Gwydion was making a face that hovered between trying not to giggle and "uh oh".

"Uh oh" was a term that Uther had learned in the 21st century. It felt as though he used it quite a lot.

[chaseandoldlace]

"You too--" Chase ushered Adamant into the bathroom, holding the shower door open long enough to her to slip in. The twins weren't the only ones who had taken to the social aspects of things. As soon as she was inside, she started to lick the water as it beaded down Old Lace's scales.

"Okay, easy with the friendly fire, mini-majesties," Chase beamed and hunkered down beside Elionwy, taking up in one hand a bottle of children's shampoo plastered in Disney princesses. When they'd been out shopping for bathroom supplies, it had been a rather befuddling chore to explain to Gywdion why there wasn't a shampoo for princes too. Elionwy, of course, had gotten the jist immediately, proclaiming that princesses were better.

"Time to wash Rapunzel's golden locks!" He proclaimed, scooping two hands into the water to dump water over her head, which earned a delighted squeal and burbly strains of: 'Flower gleam and glow, let your power shiiine...' as the water tumbled over her head, obscuring the words as they made their way out

[pendraeg]

Trying not to laugh at Gwydion's look of disgust over Eilonwy's singing, Uther set to work washing his hair with the same pink liquid. He had a difficult relationship with soap. It was, he was more than willing to admit, very clean and--mostly--smelled pleasant, but the lather would get in his eyes or his mouth, and it was bitter! It stung; It was frothy.

The water rapidly took on a greyish tinge as all that dirt began to rinse away. Uther took up a soft cloth and wiped at the more stubborn spots between Gwydion's fingers and around his nails. Gwydion wasn't much for toys in the tub, but (once Uther had released his hand, satisfied it was clean), he dutifully took the lock of hair that Eilonwy handed him and held it over his palm.

[chaseandoldlace]

"You know if they weren't twins I think we might have just solved Halloween this year." Chase mused, reminding Elionwy for the third time to keep her eyes closed as he worked the lather through down to the tips and used one of the scoopy bath toys in rinse it all away. Perhaps due to her bolder nature, Elionwy managed to get dirt in far more creative places, which meant extra attention to elbows and sides.

"I wanna be Meirda," The little girl announced, causing Chase to shoot a sly look at Uther-- he wasn't sure if the King of Camelot would be all that pleased with the implications of the future queen of Britain flouncing around in a red wig and war paint. "She gets to ride a biiig horse."

"Oh I get it." The blond shook his head. Now that both children were finally old enough to go riding with their father (after several years of pestering and insisting) like every little girl, most all of the princess's decisions revolved around horses and the things that would allow her to be in close proximity to them.

[pendraeg]

"I was not aware we had a Halloween problem," Uther murmured. The rhythm of the 21st century festival calendar still eluded him sometimes; it was related to and yet different from the liturgical and pastoral cycles to which he had paced his life.

As for Eilonwy's announcement, Uther had several feelings on the matter:

First, that he wished they had never seen that movie. Gwydion had had nightmares for a week about bears, to the point Uther had wondered if he could go out into the wood and hunt down a bear to vanquish the fear--except that half the time, Gwydion dreamt of becoming the bear. When the nightmares had run their course, Uther had decided to be thankful his son had predictable dreams, and not prophetic ones

[chaseandoldlace]

Alright, so Brave had maybe not been the best idea, but it was that or Frozen, and Chase wasn't quite ready for the unique torture that was "Let It Go" on loop until Christmas. Part of his duty in helping Uther with the twins was also protecting the young king from hazards he perhaps didn't see coming.

Gwydion's reply threw Chase a moment; there was a significance there he knew he was missing, but that was something he'd learned to expect between Uther and his son. They spoke their own language to each other-- sometimes literally but sometimes in inferences, which were harder to decipher. Harder still when both were employed at once.

"You mean like, Cupid? That's really cute, kiddo."

[pendraeg]

Gwydion shook his head, reticent. Uther was about to explain, but Eilonwy, her hair a heavy wet mop, put her little hands behind her head like a pair of antlers and beat him to it.

"A deer," she said exaggeratedly. "Like Bambi."

To stave off Gwydion's look of disgruntlement, and to act as preemptive peacekeeper, Uther added, "a stag, king of the venery beasts."

Knowing Gwydion, he would have somehow retained all the detail of exactly what made a stag a hart from the perhaps once Uther might have told him about it, and would want that detail adhered to precisely.

"Come on then, Great Stag, time to get dry." He lifted Gwydion out of the tub and into one of the waiting towels. "You too, my Lady Eques."

[chaseandoldlace]

Aware that he was still missing the significance of Gwydion's choice, Chase beamed nonetheless-- he knew that stags were a heraldic symbol though it had never occurred to him why the creatures were important