Leo rubbed his eyes, still dazed from sleep. He yawned, stepped out of his room in boxers and a crumpled tunic hanging off one shoulder, scratching his hair like a medieval zombie.
He paused.
Down the hallway, footsteps echoed lightly on the stone floor.
Ari appeared from the end of the corridor, hair still damp, towel lazily slung around her neck—fully dressed, of course, in her usual long cloak over fitted training wear. But for some cursed reason… she glowed. Not magical glow. Just—post-shower, wet-hair, moonlight-glow level glow.
She wasn't doing anything. Just walking.
But Leo froze like a deer caught mid-spellcast.
"Why are you staring like that?" she raised a brow.
Leo blinked rapidly, forcing his brain to brain. "No—nothing! I thought—I mean—did you already—wow, the weather's nice, huh?"
Ari tilted her head, suspicious.
He coughed, trying to casually lean against the wall. "I just thought you'd… you know… come out with a towel on or something—not that I was hoping! I mean not hoping—not hoping at all!"
Her eyebrow twitched.
She walked past him, deadpan. "Leo."
"Y-Yeah?"
"I shower inside the stall. This isn't a jungle."
Leo's soul left his body. "Ah."
Then came the fatal blow. As she turned into the shared kitchen lounge, she tossed over her shoulder with a smirk:
"Next time, wear pants before fantasizing, Romeo."
Leo stood frozen. Shirt slipping off one side. One sock on. Absolutely defeated. A shame spiral formed around him like a tornado.
Vellum popped his head out of their room, sleepy-eyed.
"Did I hear something about pants and fantasizing?"
Leo screamed into his tunic.
—
Meanwhile…
Elaria hummed as she poured warm water over her hair. She was calm, focused, totally unaware that chaos was knocking on the bathhouse door.
Until it burst open.
"AHHH—SORRY! I—WRONG ROOM I—" Vellum screamed, slipping on the tile with one foot still holding a towel and his face fully red before even processing the situation.
Luckily, steam filled the bathhouse like a divine censor. Elaria was deep in the back section, fully covered by mist and sitting in the water. But her glare cut through it like lightning.
"I—Leo said he—wait, I thought—SHUT UP, BRAIN, WHY AM I TALKING OUT LOUD!?" Vellum wailed, turning on his heel, slipping, falling, slipping again, and somehow rolling out like a bag of potatoes.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Inside, Elaria blinked. Then started laughing. Loudly. The kind of laugh that echoed down the hallway like bells in chaos.
She grabbed a towel, dried her face, and muttered with a smirk:
"He's definitely writing a spell called Escapeus Embarrassium right now."
—
Later that morning, the crew gathered in the kitchen lounge.
Leo sat on a stool, sipping tea like a man who had lived through war. Vellum looked like he had been struck by multiple lightning spells.
Ari calmly ate toast. Elaria sat beside her, still laughing quietly.
Leo avoided everyone's gaze.
Ari finally broke the silence. "So. Who's going to ask what happened to Sir Drenched in Shame?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Leo muttered, voice flat.
Vellum raised a hand. "I also don't want to talk about it."
Elaria was still grinning. "You two have very eventful mornings, huh?"
Leo whispered to himself, "Why did I leave my room without pants..."
—
After breakfast, the group split to rest.
Leo slinked off to his room and pulled the blanket over his face, mumbling about humiliation and magical curtains to hide from reality.
Vellum tried to meditate but kept getting flashbacks and yelling, "WHY ME!?" into the pillow.
Ari stretched out in her bed, looking amused. She tucked a notebook beside her and whispered with a smirk:
"He'll never walk out without pants again."
Elaria flipped through her sketchbook, now doodling a tiny stick-figure Vellum slipping on bath tiles.
A peaceful, warm silence settled over the dorm.
Outside, birds chirped.
Inside, dignity tried to recover.
---