The group was walking to the hot springs and Jack was on Jeanne's shoulder, with two bumps on his head from his insenstive joke.
[HP: 40/50]
"You girls gotta hold your punches. My HP is at 50 only," he joked, which earned him another pinch.
The streets of Urianthe were alive. The sounds of woodwind instruments playing a tune that felt both ancient and modern at the same time. Elven children playing with glowing bugs. He looked up, and through the dense canopy of the tree-city, the slivers of sky that broke through were a deep, serene blue.
Reaching the hot springs, Jack's non-existent nostrils were assailed by the smell of minerals and something vaguely like damp earth.
"This is a private hot spring. Courtesy of Judge Sylva," Laurel announced with a proud little smile. "For guests of the court."
She opened a wooden door to reveal a large, open-air pool. The water was a milky turquoise, steam rising into the cool evening air. The tub was carved directly from the living wood of an ancient tree, the edges smoothed by countless generations of use.
The girls went in and Jack tried to follow after. Jeanne stopped him. She grabbed Jack and put him on the bench.
"You can use the men's spring, over there."
Jack squirmed as he noticed another door.
"What? I'm a genderless slime."
"Then pick a gender and stick to it," she said and shut the men's door.
He mumbled something under his breath before hopping over to the door on the far left.
It was a smaller, more modest pool. The water here was clear, and he could see the pale, intricate patterns of the wood on the bottom. He was the only one. So he hopped in.
The heat soaked into his gelatinous body, a feeling of pure, unadulterated bliss.
Even his spider-slime was enjoying it. Ms Snuffles had built a small raft from fallen leaves and was now floating contentedly, its tiny legs splayed out.
"What are you doing there Ms Snuffles?" Jack asked.
The spider simply waved its front legs. He didn't know how Ms Snuffles was so expressive with such little features. But he liked it.
Jack closed his core, trying to enjoy the silence.
"Peace and quiet," he said.
A loud clattering sounds echoed behind the door like someone dropped a tray.
"Peace and quiet," he repeated.
The door opened and another tray clattered. This time it was one of those wooden buckets, the kind used to carry hot water.
"Ah peace and quiet," he sighed. This was getting ridiculous.
He opened his eyes and saw Solana, her orange hair like a beacon in the misty steam. She wore a simple towel wrapped around her, leaving her shoulders and her legs exposed. No gloves.
"This is the men's spring," he said.
Solana ignored him and instead hopped in. Her presence immediately altered the ambiance of the pool, sending waves that were basically tsunami's for the little Ms Snuffles.
"Stop it," Jack commanded, extending a tentacle to steady the leaf-raft.
The flower elf's eyes lit up with a feverish intensity.
"You are a human," she said, not as a question, but as a scientist observing a specimen, her gaze dissecting him.
"Was a human," he corrected, but she shook her head, sending droplets flying.
"Still a human," she said. Then a mischievous glint in her moss-green eyes, "Can I taste you again?"
"No. You had your tongue deep inside my core that was enough."
She pouted.
"Aww but I want to know how you taste after performing a Core Fusion with her highness Nimue." She inched closer to Jack and he could feel her hot breath. His gelatinous body shivered.
A heat was tingling in his body, akin to arousal, but his curiousity seemed to have overwhelmed his arousal.
"I've been meaning to ask, what is core fusion and why do you have it maxed out?" Jack asked, trying to distract the flower elf from trying to lick him again.
Solana sighed. A deep and tired one. As if the question forced her to think about something she desperately tried to bury under piles of research. She leaned back in the water and released her towel, which floated gently next to Ms Snuffles.
Jack wobbled. Her breasts looked very round, with a small green nipple.
"Are you not more interested in my body than a silly old skill, Jack?" Solana's tone was flat, bored.
He tilted his head, "Why not both?"
The Flower Elf let out a little laugh, a series of bubbly hiccups. She dunked her entire head under the water, and then popped up again with a long, clean orange hair.
She took Jack in her hands. He wasn't resisting because she didn't seem like she was about to boil him. Plus she was hot.
"Okay I'll tell you," she whispered.
Elves were very traditional, especially about handholding.
"Do you know why elves forbid skin contact and love gloves so much?" Solana asked.
Jeanne told him it was because it was a sign of sin and for purity.
"It is because the reproduction of elves occur via skin to skin contact, and not through... typical means," she answered as if reading Jack's mind.
"When an elf goes through puberty they unlock a skill, core fusion. With this skill they are able to form an embryo that later becomes a tree seed," she explained.
She pointed at Yggdrasil, visible through the hot spring's open ceiling. The tree itself was a giant canopy with millions of leaves that rustled. Yet none of them fell.
"The thing is elven children get this skill at different ages and its forbidden to use it until you are 21," she looked at her own hands with sadness.
The story was obvious at this point, and Jack started to connect the dots.
"You had Laurel before you were 21."
The elf woman's cheerfulness vanished. A cloud of melancholy washed over her face.
"I was 12 when I got my Core Fusion skill and 13 when I used it," she said. "I was curious and someone I trustedtricked me into using my skill..."
"But ultimately it was my fault," Solana's bottom lip quivered. "I was stupid enough to believe him when he said the skill wouldn't activate."
The steam rising around her seemed to carry her sorrow. This was more than a professional failure; it was a tragedy etched into her very being.
Jack remained silent, processing.
"Teens are stupid. I was a teenager, I get it," Jack tried to reassure her, a small tentacle patting her wet shoulder. It was a clumsy gesture, but it was something.
This only caused Solana to let out a hollow, bitter laugh.
"Anyways I've since dedicated my life to runesmithing unfortunately I haven't been able to reach Arch Runesmith." Shechanged the subject and tried to move to happier grounds.
"So can we..." her expression changed, it was a playful but predatory look, "Experiment?"