The thing with being constantly regulated to taking showers, is that Arabelle hadn't had a true submerge-yourself-in-water type bath in years. Tubs generally weren't designed for folks with wings, let alone folks with wingspans as impressive as hers
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So it was in his wanderings that Enoch found the large public baths and the winged woman within them. In general, the scribe tended to assume any being with feathered wings was an angel, but he was used to them not having physical forms like this.
The hot water looked inviting, and Enoch knew he could use a break. But sharing the space with what could well be an angel gave him pause. He would have to ask first. "Excuse me. Can I join you?"
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Nonetheless, she blinked and made a noise in surprise, ducking in the water at first largely because he wasn't someone she knew, at least, before she realized he'd probably been there for at least a minute or so. Her wings flicked in the water as she took a moment to compose a reply, "Ah. Sure, there's plenty'a space in here. Name's Ara, who might'cha be?"
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"So, hotel treatin' you alright, or are ya new?" She asked, lazily swimming in the deeper end, using her wings to facilitate a kind of backstroke for the moment, keeping her head, shoulders, and the tops of her wings above the surface of the water.
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He sighed as the warm water relaxed him, his body tense from constant roaming. He stayed in water he could stand in, being unable to swim.
"I've only been here a week." Or it felt like a week, about. Time had the tendency to blur together on him if he didn't keep track.
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"I think I've been here about th' same, maybe a lil' more, maybe a lil' less. I don't have a watch on me, and there's no real frame of reference. Even the 'outdoor' rooms seem to follow different times." She shrugged in the water, closing her eyes and ducking under to get her hair and the rest of her wings wet before surfacing again with a deep breath, running her hands through her hair to get it wet, and doing the same with one wing at the time, kicking her legs and using whichever wing she wasn't doing it to, to keep herself at the surface.
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"It's alright, I should'a realized you'd get naked too, since I ain't wearin' a stitch of clothing in here either." She shrugged, "It's a bath-house-thing, for the lovva everything." If nothing else, momentary embarrassment aside, she took it in stride, but Arabelle tended to be that way about most things.
That said, she did swim closer so she could semi-sit nearby, to make conversation a little simpler, "Y'wouldn't be the first to think that, and frankly, I doubt you'll be the last. Nothin' di--" Beat, "Holy about me, Enoch, I'm no angel, and trust me on that. Just your garden variety mutant gal with wings." She flashed a grin. Ara didn't mind the mistake, while annoying, it was more amusing than anything else.
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Enoch leaned his head back so some of his hair soaked up the warm water. "It's why I thought you wouldn't mind. Angels of both sexes bathe and swim together." At least he seemed relaxed about it now. Talking for the sake of filling silence, rather than a continued apology.
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A few beats after he said that, Arabelle blinked, "Wait. Are you an angel, or do you just know a lotta angels? 'Cause you're talkin' about 'em like you're really familiar, so..."
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And with so many people from a future he'd never see even living on Heaven's time (or so he thought), what did it matter?
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Arabelle had yet to meet a real angel, here or on her version of Earth. She's met (and fought) the occasional demon, but that's what happens when you have a wizard on your primary team, it tends to make you a target for the nastier, and meaner magical set. "I'm more or less law enforcement back home. Deal with folks that the normal police can't, really."
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Her occupation got a nod of respect. "It's important to uphold peace. Be proud of what you do."
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The craziness that were demons.
"Most'a the time I am. So what'cha do up there with the angels, anyway?" She asked, admittedly curious. Focusing on that actually helped from focusing on ... other things.
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