Grand Theft Flitter [R'nya]

It likely wasn’t proper but Rhaedalyn did it anyway. It was late into the evening and the bathhouse, while usually crowded in the evening had already quieted down and emptied out by the time she made her way in. That was part of the routine she had created for herself. Late night soaks were nice to unwind with before bed and to clean off the day’s grime before slipping beneath clean sheets but she wasn’t too thrilled with the notion of sharing the tub with a handful of other people. She had her modesty to preserve! She giggled at the memory of getting V’zire, soon after their friendship started, to stand guard by the door so no one would sneak in on her. While she still preferred to avoid sharing bath time with someone else, Rhaedalyn wasn’t nearly that skittish anymore.

Still, she was glad to see the empty room since it meant she could give Muffin and Whisper a bath with her as well. Some people still didn’t trust the firelizards but even more people had issue with seeing them splash around in the humans’ bathing water. But it was so much easier to bathe them all at the same time! Muffin especially liked to splash excessively and Rhaedalyn ended up getting as wet as him if she tried to bathe him on his own. This just saved them time!

Whisper was the easier one to wash and after Rhaedalyn had finished cleaning her own skin, she moved to her little gold and gently worked over each area while also checking for any dry patches. She’d oil them both when they returned home but it never hurt to triple check on such things! Once Whisper was finished, the sweet girl took a lap around the tub before getting out to sit on the edge, air drying and waiting for the others to finish up. She was such a patient little thing – if only Muffin could learn a bit from her! The chase for Muffin began. He continuously splashed around the tub, leading Rhaedalyn from one end to the other before taking off to fly out of her reach. She sighed dramatically, a bit too tired to play their usual games. “Muffin! It won’t take that long. You can go back to playing after.” Bargaining usually didn’t get her far and it didn’t this time either.

Sitting back against the edge, deciding to give Muffin a chance to play a little more and tire himself out, Rhaedalyn figured she could enjoy a little extra relaxing soak. As she sank a little lower so the water came up to her chin, Rhaedalyn froze and squinted at a chair off to the side of the room. She hadn’t noticed before since her back was to it but from her current location and level, it looked like something had been forgotten under the chair. That wasn’t too out of the ordinary given how often clothes were left behind for one reason or another but this looked like something else. Too curious to let it be, Rhaedalyn slipped out of the rub, quickly grabbing her towel as she went to wrap around herself. No point in being on display in case someone walked in!

Crouching down she pulled out the object and gasped with her hands covering her mouth soon after. It was a jar but inside was something she was familiar with. A firelizard egg! Who was the owner? Who would forget it here? Was it forgotten? It was hot in the bathhouse so it wasn’t too bad of a place to keep it warm but why would you leave it alone? Rhaedalyn glanced around as if the owner would suddenly return, knowing he had forgotten the egg behind and someone was looking at it. What if he didn’t return? What if it was purposely abandoned? Rhaedalyn worried her lower lip as she thought about all the scenarios. Whisper and even Muffin came over to see what was causing her distress and Muffin nuzzled at a hand while Whisper peered inside the pot and then back at the young woman.

Rhaedalyn knew what was wanted even before Whisper started chittering at her. They couldn’t leave the egg to fate and hope the original owner would come back! Before she second guessed herself, Rhaedalyn was tossing her clothes on and gathering up all of her belongings before staring down at the jar. Muffin was on her shoulder and even he had taken up the urging to help the egg and before she knew what she was doing, Rhaedalyn plucked the egg from the jar and wrapped it in her towel and took off running from the bathhouse.

Oh, what had she done? She should turn around and put it back! Her firelizards wouldn’t let her though and neither would her conscious. The poor thing could die or hatch without anyone around and go feral where it risked so many dangers! She had to tell someone though! V’zire was the first one to her mind, naturally, but her sweet greenrider didn’t overly like flitters  and while he tolerated her little group, Rhaedalyn didn’t want to approach him at a late hour, invading his home and subjecting him to her babbling. Kahleena would gush over it with her and then join in the fretting. Mevrit would tell her to find the real owner and question if she really needed a third firelizard. That left one person she could trust who would also know what to do.

It was a long trek by foot from bathhouse to hut but Rhaedalyn eventually made it though she had stopped her jog a few huts away so her breath could be caught. She also took a moment to keep an eye out for the great bronze that never seemed amused to see her. In fact, she was certain he rolled his eyes at times. Was that even possible? Peeking around a corner she saw Xyreith and gave a little wave as she tip toed to the door. “R’nya!” She whisper-yelled his name through the door she knocked upon. There was a chance he was asleep but she was willing to risk it, just like she was risking her image by showing up at a man’s door at such an hour with her hair still damp from the bath and looking slightly dishevelled.  “R’nya, I need you!”