Those Things In Your Head

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Munin slowly stepped over to her. His hands coming to her waist as he pulled her into a slight embrace.

"I'm just surprised." He told her with a smile. "I didn't think you'd want to go there."

He was delighted, but surprised. "Especially when neither of us brought a swimsuit."

Munin didn't feel the need to say why that was the surprising part. With no swimsuit they would either have to go into the pools in their underwear...or none at all. The latter option was most definitely not going to happen for either him or Spark, but still.

"But...surprises aren't bad." Munin reassured her.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

After a dumbfounded moment of hesitation, her arms wrapped around him. Face buried into the fabric of his winter coat for a moment. But she was careful not to scratch her glasses. #duh

"I want to do something you want to do, for a change." She spoke into his jacket before she finally pulled away and looked up, blues beneath speckled-lenses connecting with his blues. "I'm not promising I'll go in," she could feel the heat already spreading on her cheeks. "But we'll see."

She'd prepared. Beneath the winter coat and the warm fuzzy sweater and the long-sleeved shirt AND the long underwear, she had on a spaghetti strapped-night shirt. And beneath the ski pants and long-underwear bottoms, she had on some girl briefs. Or, she might just watch Munin and get as close as possible to the warm, steamy air as she could.

#we'llsee

She stepped back from him, knee knocking accidentally against his.

"Ready?"

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

"Mhm." The confirmation came from Munin as he smiled and stepped forward.

They would have to head to the front of the village to collected the speeder, thought that wouldn't be a problem. Munin of course went first, taking careful measure not to slip on any of the ice or snow that had collected around the front of the house. Unsurprisingly, there were still snowflakes falling from the sky, something that seemed to be a near constant in this place. He frowned for a moment, looking up before quickly glancing back towards Spark.

He smiled. "Come on."

They could brave some snow.

The walk that took them to the front of the village would be recognized easily enough, being the exact trip that they had taken up towards the cabin upon their arrival.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

"It's not like it's that much colder out there than in here," she replied logically, with a small smile on her lips as she ventured back outside. She stepped carefully as they wound their way back down the path from the night before. All that mess they made in the park by the market was already covered over in fresh powder. There was no evidence they'd been there at all.

She frowned.

Up ahead on the path, there was a small lot with a few different speeder classes. Looked like the place where Munin put in the order. At the end of the path, her boot found a hidden patch of black-ice. A squeaking-yelp escaped her lips as she pitched forward, arms encircled around the closest thing which happened to be Munin. With her angle and pitch, she'd wind up hitting him pretty hard, arms going around his waist and snagging one of his arms.

#stillaforcemaster

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

The crash sent him half stumbling forward, though luckily for the both of them he managed to put a foot forward and bury it in a thick patch of piled snow. He half sank into the snowbank, though he managed to stop himself and Spark from falling.

"Hey hey hey!" He called out in half a panic.

His hands wrapped around her, steadying her.

"You okay?" Munin asked as he looked up, searching to see if anyone was about to attack them, almost like a scared doe. After a second he realized that doing so was both silly and giving away what they were. "Slip?'

It was an obvious question with an obvious answer.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

She fell over his thigh on that foot of his that was planted in the snow bank, her lower back propped up by his leg. It looked as though he was putting her through an elaborate dip at a couple's dancing class. Blinking and realizing she hadn't broken anything, she stared sheepishly up at him as his arms drew her back to a standing position.

She nodded numbly to his question and cringed.

#klutz

"We are going somewhere warm on vacation after this," she whispered. "Without ice." Hand came up and straightened her beanie. She stepped back on the path with Munin and stepped a bit more carefully down the rest of the way to the small rental lot.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

"Yeah?' Munin asked her with a smile as they wandered up to the kiosk.

The whole place was of course automated, mostly because it was cheaper just to have a machine do the work for you instead of a live human. There was a complaint line printed on the side of the vendor if anything happened, but other than that it all seemed to be automated. Munin pulled out the communicator from his pocket and quickly began to enter the rental information that he'd gotten a bit earlier.

"Like where?" He asked her. "Spira?"

A well known tourist world.

There was a loud clink as the machine deposited the speeder keys. "Borleias?"

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

"Yeah," she peaked at the spot number of the keys. Feet stamped in the cold, bouncing up and down to stay warm. Gloved hands stuffed themselves in her pockets. She wandered over to the speeder and tugged open the door as Munin unlocked it.

"Or maybe Bal'demnic." Bony-butt slid into the passenger seat. "Comeoncomeon," she urged. She wanted to get the head stared as soon as possible. And heated seats!!

#thankthestars

She slipped the comm out of her pocket and hooked it to the navigation. "I've got the maps up now for the hot springs. Think we'll have it to ourselves?"

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Munin turned the key to flip on the ignition. The speeder jumped to life immediately, having been well maintained. He quickly flipped the switches for the heated seats and made sure that the heater turned on as well, knowing that Spark had a propensity for turning into a Popsicle.

"Maybe." He told her.

"There's a bunch I think.' That was usually how hot springs worked. It wasn't just one pool, but dozens of them. "There's even some in caves. I'm sure we can poke around until we find something away from everyone else."

He knew Spark would prefer to be alone when it came to this.

Slowly Munin reached over and squeezed her hand. "It'll be fun."

That was a promise.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

Gloved fingers wrapped around his. "I don't care as long as it's warm." She offered a small smile and watched out of the snowy windows as they went on their way. The heated seats hit her as well as the heated air.

#heaven

"Then again," she teased quietly and snuggled down into the seat a bit. "You might never get me out of this speeder."

Blonde-haired head leaned back and gray-blue eyes closed contentedly. She finally stopped shivering since she left the bed that morning.

She didn't realize some of the pools might be in caves. That sounded promising. It offered more privacy and the caves would keep out most of the snow and trap the warm air of the springs. Maybe Munin would be able to pry her gangly form free from this speeder after all.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

"They're hot springs." He told her with a smile. "I'm pretty sure they'll be hot."

The speeder trip that they took would be a relatively quick one, the vehicle barely having enough time to actually kick into gear and fully warm up before they were already soaring over parts of the mountain. He pointed down towards certain sections, where larger pools were situated. The place was crawling with people unfortunately, so of course Munin didn't stop. "We'll look..."

Munin began as he banked the speeder to the right and higher up into the mountains.

"...Until we find a place where no one is." As he drove them higher the people began to thin out, the parked speeders began to disappear, and everything seemed to get quieter and quieter. This little side adventure might have been for him, but he wanted Spark as comfortable as possible.

"Look up there." He pointed towards a small secluded area with a cave opening. "Want to see if we can find something?"

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

She could feel her anxiety levels drop a bit the higher they went. Less people. Less people to see her in non-bathing suit attire! Spark was obviously a very private person.

Face pressed against the cold window as she looked outside. It was actually quite beautiful with the snowy mountains. And it seemed secluded. The speeder hummed to a stop as Munin pulled up on a bank.

"Yeah,let's explore."

She waited an extra minute before moving, though. Heated seats were definitely a dream. #neverleaving

Grinning sheepishly, she finally opened her door and stepped out into the rugged wilderness. Snatching the bag of towels and things, she began traipsing up the incline toward the mouth of the cave. She could feel a warmth in the air as they got closer.

#goodsign

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

As Munin stepped out of the speeder he shivered slightly, not used to the cold air. He took the keys from the vehicle and tucked them into a small part of his own pack, wanting to make sure that he didn't lose them once they started off.

He looked around for a moment, finding that no one had apparently traveled this far up the mountain. "Looks like we're alone."

Munin told Spark as he turned around to find her already heading towards the entrance of the cave. He smiled slightly, seeing the mist rise from the mouth of the cavern. Slowly he followed after her, making sure not to slip on the slick rocks beneath his feet. He carried himself carefully, moving up behind her.

"Slippery." He said as he caught up to her, both of them entering the cave a second later.

Warmth struck him almost immediately.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

To her credit, she didn't slip this time. #madskillz She shuffled into the entrance, blinking in the semi-darkness. Glasses immediately fogged up. She sputtered, wiping them gently with her jacket.

"Look at that," she breathed, pointing to the bioluminescence along the inner cave walls and in the edges of the pool's water, giving it a greenish-blue glow. All the snow was melted in here. Too warm to let it stick.

Looked like there was a ledge around two thirds of the pool, almost like a built in bench. For the rest, she had no idea how deep it was. She slung her pack down on some rocks further back along the cave's side. Turning, she offered Munin a tentative smile, catching the snow and light at the cave's entrance.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

For a few seconds Munin and Spark simply stood there, smiling at one another a bit awkwardly.

After a second the Information Broker scooted closer to his girlfriend, putting down his own pack next to hers. He frowned for a moment, looking at the odd bench like structure at the edge of the pool before glancing back towards Spark. Eventually he decided that given who she was, Spark would never actually make the first move.

Thus he let out a deep breath and slowly pulled off his shirt.

Surprisingly the air didn't immediately send a chill down his spine, instead it was almost...pleasant. The steam rising from the pools being enough to keep at least the inside of the cave warm. After his shirt he came his pants, which were quietly and neatly folded then deposited on top of his backpack. Standing in his boxers, Munin looked at Spark for a moment before gently tip toeing past her towards the pools, his foot dunking into the water first.

"Oh." He yelped. "That's hot."

But not too hot, just a bit...startling.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

She laughed a bit nervously. "It is a HOT spring." She smiled and gave one last cautionary glance to the cave entrance. They were still alone. Jacket came off first. Then her sweater. Then her long-sleeve shirt. The spaghetti-strapped tank was all that remained.

#allthelayers

Next came her boots, snow pants, long underwear bottoms, and socks. That left her in some Captain Universe girl-briefs and some pale, gangly legs. Arms immediately crossed beneath her pretty much flat chest. Bare-feet tip-toed after Munin. A toe dipped in.

"Ahhhh," a happy sigh escaped her lips. Slowly, she eased in so she sat on the cave floor with just her legs dangling in.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Munin went a bit farther that Spark, sliding quietly into the pool and settling within the water. "Ohhh, aaaaaah, ohhhhhahaa."

The Information Broker breathed in and out as he submerged himself into the water.

"Hot hot hot." He said over and over again as quickly he was submerged up to his chest.

For a moment he simply stood there, frozen.

"It's really deep." He said looking up at Spark. "But it evens out just enough so I can stand."

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

She blinked at him and laughed. "Your skin is turning red." #irony "Don't go too deep," she warned, worriedly. Inhaling quickly, fingers gripped the ledge of the pool behind her and she slipped in. Even if Mun could stand, she probably wouldn't be able to. Shirt lifted as she sunk in, up to mid-ribs.

"Ooooooo," she breathed. Hair was tucked into her beanie so it didn't get wet.

Even with the heat, little goosebumps surfaced on her nearly bare shoulders. "Happy?" She wanted him to be. It's why she was going a bit out of her comfort zone for this little side trip.

 

[Munin]

[member="Spark Finn"]

Munin slowly made his way over to her. He didn't swim so much as he did waddle to try and stop the water from sloshing around too much within the pool. He managed to reach her after a moment, his fingers slowly coming to settle on her waist.

He half held her in the water, as if making sure she didn't suddenly fall. "I'm happy whenever you're with me."

Munin said with a smile.

"You didn't have to do this for me." He told her. "I'm happy just to spend a day indoors with you."

Preferably somewhere warm though.

 

[Spark Finn]

[member="Munin"]

"I know," she squeaked, as she felt his fingers cascade along her skin. She had much more exposed skin now than she did last night. #allthelayers. She waded in a bit deeper, so only her tiptoes kept her up and the weight of Munin's fingers on her waist.

Bony-hips bumped lightly against his torso as her arms reached up slowly, encircling around the back of his neck.

#boldforaFinn

"I wanted to do it for you," she spoke quietly. Half-fogged up glasses looked up at his face. Little whisps of blonde hair stuck free from her beanie. "Because, well," she stammered, "I'm pretty sure I...love you."