The past couple days had been a whirl for the young man. After having a lacrima implanted in him, the newfound Dragon Slayer was at an ends with his magic. It still worked, of course, and was still earth, but the way it functioned was entirely different. He was capable of producing his element now, not just manipulating the ground beneath his feet. That in itself was new to him, and then there was his senses. He could smell better, clearer--and he needed a bath.

And so, here the Slayer was, entering the building to find the usual shy attendant at the desk. His customary greeting of a boyish grin and a wink, he paid his entry fee and headed to the man's bath. Having grown up in a small village of less than fifty people, he was use to public baths--every bath he ever had was one. Of course they, and thankfully Magnolia, separated the baths by gender. Kazuki wasn't exactly shy, but he wasn't sure how he felt about flashing his dangly bits to the entire population of Magnolia either.

Entering the changing rooms, he scrunched his nose. This new scent thing was certainly going to take some getting use to, as the first thing he smelled was sweat and feet. Stifling his breathing he quickly grabbed a towel and headed to the baths themselves, electing to use the cubbies there where he could keep an eye on hims belongings. It wasn't that he didn't trust people, but...well, that's exactly what it was, if he was honest. He had already had his wallet stolen once, and that was all it took to learn a valuable lesson.

" Ah..."
The gasp was audible as her body nearly sunk like a stone in the warmth of the bath waters. It had been far too long since she had a proper bath, and after robbing some snobby bitch blind she spent some of the loot here. The trip from Hargeon took a toll on her body, not to mention all the extra bullshit she had put herself through while she was there. Her well defined muscles nearly did something they didn't do in awhile..Relaxed. It was almost orgasmic what a good bath could do and with each second that passed she could feel herself sinking deeper into the waters.

It was a lucky sort of day for Roxanne. Not one single female had entered the baths and she was beyond thankful for that. Mostly she could smell the thick scent of men on the other side of the bamboo wall. She didn't mind it, she had gotten use to overbearing scents by now. What she did mind was one scent that stood above the rest. It put her on edge because she had smelled it before but she could never put a name to it. Frowning her body floated to the top of the bath waters and she got a better smell of the air around her. Oh yea, she remembered a smell like this before but something about it was different, like it was coated in something... Earthy.

" Just when I thought I could fucking relax.. "

Floating atop the waters for a moment more just to get a feel of the scent that overpowered the others. It filled her in a way that made her almost shudder in fear. That pissed her off more than anything else, to be afraid of something she didn't even know. Something so human as to fear the unknown.  She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and in the same breath sucked it all down. Getting out of the water slowly she made her way to the bamboo wall and placed her hand on it, her fingers tapping lightly before she walked away from it. Curiosity bubbled over and clouded basic judgment.

" M-mam you cannot go over there. That's the men's section! Plea-"
A voice so weak and human cried out to her as she walked and it actually caused her to stop. With a grunt she walked back to her locker and took a good chunk of the money she had and threw it at him, who she assumed to be the attendant. " Do not bother me.. And do not allow anyone else to come into this bath.. "
Her voice was enough to rattle any man's bones when she wanted it too, and it seemed this man got the ticket real fast.

She wasn't crazy or sick, she was scared and when people are afraid they do stupid things. Roxanne continued to walk forward into the men's bath's, her ruby locks pushed pack from her face so her fluctuating green blue eyes could take in every man inside, while her nose profiled their scents. Eventually and quickly she found the source of her... Discomfort. Mustering up the power inside of her she pushed it through her throat and out it came, like a evil roar.

" Everyone but you get out"

A naked womanly figure of muscle and curves with the look of death in her eyes would usually not intimidate men. Unfortunately she was not just a woman and even though she possessed no magic, the men ran and hopefully they didn't look back. Would the one she just called out run? she had hoped not. Not with that kinda scent making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She stared him down and against everything that she was she stood tall and made her way into the bath across from him to keep distance, attempting to let the water cover her body, even if it was a little to late for that.

" You smell like dirt...."

Kazuki had removed his necklace which held a small seed from his home town, one of his few keepsake that he had left home with. After this, his vest made of hide came off and then the dress shirt revealing a tanned lean frame, though muscles still grew from years of tending fields as a young man. He had begun working on his belt when the curtains whipped in a frenzy and the men of the bath had gotten quiet. His blue-greens looked to them, pants halfway down his hips before looking over his shoulder and his eyes widened. Quickly, almost comically, he began pulling the hide pants back up. "The hell!?"

Her own voice roared forth, thundering throughout the bathhouse and causing the men to flee. He would have done the same, should have, but something in him stopped him. There was a newfound voice, sort of primal in nature, telling him to stand his ground. He wasn't -just- a mage anymore, not with his new lacrima. This voice, be it his own arrogance or something more, soothed him and he stood his own full height, eyeing her with the sternest look he could muster. His common sense told him it probably wasn't much, as she was stark nude. He watched her go to the water, be it for enjoyment or caution he wasn't exactly sure. After all, at the end of the day lacrima, wizard, or whatever he was still a man.

His senses, seemingly sharpened at the prospect of being needed caught a scent that he had smelled before but he wasn't sure where he could place it. It was both a common smell, yet not, depending on the type of life one lead. Still, as she entered the water, he folded his arms across his bare chest, the Fairy Tail symbol visible in it's orange glory on the back of his left hand. Her words made him almost roll his eyes.

"Well, I'm at the bath, so..." Clearly he wasn't wanting for wits, and his tongue was rather sharp when need be. Still, perhaps his natural charm--and wits--could see him through what that little voice was screaming was danger. He managed a boyish grin. "Care to explain why I'm the lucky guy that gets to stay?"

She had heard his every damned word. It was cute, it was clever. If not for that gnawing feeling inside of her she might has cracked a smile, but this was not the time for play.  She could feel her body going through a phase of relaxing against the water but fighting against her fear. Like a stupid game of cat and mouse she let her mind fuck with her physical body. She controlled her breathing to get just a grasp of the situation, and appreciated that this man didn't either know the danger in front of him, or knew and also knew he was strong enough to take it down. Whatever the reason she would play along until she felt that is was safe to take the first strike should she need too.

" Lucky? Hardly. I hate repeating myself but, You smell like dirt.. You smell like dirt and a smell that no man can have without being a human man... So how about you get use to the water and start explaining yourself?"

She needed to know. It burned her insides and tore apart her curiosity. Like a secret that she knew about but didn't know the details of. It angered yet intrigued her. She needed to know, it wasn't just a want at this point and her voice as much as it tried to control itself, sounded only like a sort of purr to her as if she was trying to entice to information out of this man.  But no matter what it sounded like to her it came out like a feral growl.

Kazuki watched her with a wary eye as she fully submerged, turning back to look at him. His muscles were tense, his mind going a mile a minute and he hoped he wasn't showing his fear. She finally spoke and Kazuki fond himself shifting his weight to his right leg. "I dunno, you imply that I'm unlucky, but I'm the only guy in here with a pretty naked lady. Most guys would put that into their 'today is my lucky day' category." Still, he was wary. Clearly she didn't have any weapons on her person, and he knew he didn't need any weapons. Of course, he wasn't exactly experienced with this new Lacrima.

"And I told you I'm here for a bath--probably because I small like dirt!" Despite his nervousness, he let out a laugh that was full of mirth. Even in this situation, he kept his cheerful persona. Still, he wasn't stupid.

"Not a human? Pretty sure I am." He raised a brow. "Both my mom and dad are humans...grandparents too, for that matter." Said matter-of-factly, but the wheels were already turning. Things were starting to fall into place now. The lacrima! That crazy old man said it would make him a new person. Was this what he was talking about? Talk about talking in riddles.

"Well what do I smell like to you?" Asked simply. He hadn't made any movement towards the water, or to remove the rest of his clothes, and his arms remained folded across his chest as he cocked his head to the side, giving her the best boyish grin he could muster.

She sighed. She just told him what he smelled like to her, but he asked her anyway. He must be stupid, yea that was really the only reason for his answer to all this. It didn't matter anyway, she had lost interest in this little back and forth. She had other things to do and though her time was not limited she didn't want to waste anymore of it here. " Huh, Ok. Well since I already told you what I smelled like to you, I'm not gonna sit her and play this back and forth game. I'm sure I'll see you or your kind around again.." Getting up and out of the water she made her way back to the other side of the baths to gather her things. Before she left she made sure to give the ok to let people back into the men's side of the baths. Her time in Magonlia was done for now as she would need to make her way to her guild mates. It had been far too long and it was probably best she let them know she was still alive and not just being a lazy fool under the guild's name.

- exit -