the people of the springs are well known for their parties. they last from dusk until dawn, the pools of warm, healing water echoing with the sounds of music and merriment. humans and koholosaurs alike participate in the festivities, and for a moment, the thought of conflict is the furthest from anyone’s minds. even more so now, with the end of the war, to the point where the people of the springs—or more specifically, mualani—are comfortable enough with sending an invite to the speaker’s chamber.
you recieve the letter from one of the staff members that same afternoon, skimming through it as you head back to the bedroom. your eyes rove over the swirly text written in mualani’s easy hand, rather engrossed in her promises of freshly prepared metzli snacks to notice mavuika coming out of the shower, hair damp and sticking to her shoulders, which happen to be painted with an assortment of hickeys and lovebites.
“whatcha got there?” she asks, head tilted in curiousity. you hum, looking up from the invite, and hand it off to her to read. sunburst eyes pass over the invite for a few seconds before she nods. “sounds fun. do you wanna go?”
“we’d have to bring swimwear,” you point out, and mavuika shrugs.
“fine by me. unless you’re not comfortable? if so, we don’t have to go.”
you shake your head. it’s not about that, but if mavuika is certain, then you don’t see the harm. “no, no, i’m alright. just thought i’d ask.”
your archon lover hums, running a hand over her wet hair until it begins to glow, and you see the water evaporating from the flame-bright strands like she’s some sort of human-shaped kettle. it’s always an amusing sight—especially that little lick of hair that always stubbornly sticks up, despite her best efforts to keep it down. it’s almost unbearably cute. once her hair is dry, she’s zipping into her bodysuit, and then with a kiss on your lips she’s out the door.
“be ready by the evening,” she calls, mounting flamestrider with a grin you can tell is on her face by the way her eyes crinkle through her helmet, “i’ll pick you up.” she’s gone in the roar of an engine, and you watch fondly as her figure gets smaller and smaller in the distance. you know she’ll always come back, after all.
the hours pass by faster than you thought, and soon enough, you’re waiting outside the arena for your ride. the little knapsack on your back contains both you and mavuika’s swimwear, and tucked beneath your arm is a helmet just like mavuika’s. when she arrives she greets you with a quick kiss, her own helmet pushed up just far enough, before urging you onto the back and asking you to hold on. you do, arms wrapping around her slim waist, and then you’re both ripping down the path to the people of the springs.
the party has just started when you both arrive. mualani, already in the water, excitedly waves you both over. a cursory glance around shows a surprising turnout—somehow, the hydro user had managed to wrangle xilonen, chasca and kinich to join in on the fun this time. all of them give polite—and lazy, in the case of xilonen—nods to you and mavuika. you slip your bag off your shoulders and rummage around for your swimwear.
“let’s change and join them in the water,” you suggest, and mavuika complies with an easy smile, a hand resting on the small of your back as she guides you both to the changing rooms. they’re rather small, with a capacity of one per stall, so mavuika takes her swimwear and head to another stall while you take a separate one.
mavuika’s bodysuit peels off easily enough, perhaps thanks to the many open panels. she’s done in a few minutes, while you’re still busy changing. the marks from earlier this morning are still present on her skin, but it’s a little party between friends; nothing too scandalous. after all, it’s not as if natlan doesn’t know about their archon and her lover.
mavuika steps out of the changing room and is immediately greeted by a whistle from xilonen. the blacksmith is submerged up to her chin, no doubt indulging in the pleasant warmth of the spring. her eyes like emeralds twinkle with amusement as she takes in the absolute state of mavuika’s shoulders and neck.
“you two sure know how to have fun, huh?” the feline woman teases, and mavuika rolls her eyes as she sinks into the water next to her. “keeping the missus happy like it’s your day job.”
well, mavuika wants to say, but before she can, you emerge from the changing room, and everyone takes a moment to stare. if mavuika looked marked up, well—you look like you’ve been mauled. ajaw, who somehow managed to escape timeout, shrieks as you lower yourself into the water from the stepladder, the clawed state of your back on full display.
“what the hell?” the little dragon yells, his voice shrill, “did you wrestle a tepetlisaur or something? or a bear?”
chasca snorts from her perch on the rim of the spring, idly swaying her legs in the water. “‘keeping the missus happy’?” she echoes xilonen’s words, “more like our archon is the one being kept happy.”
“we should thank you for your service, then,” kinich quips dryly to you, flicking ajaw away into oblivion as he does so. you chuckle good naturedly, settling in next to mavuika, who, to her credit, hasn’t yet combusted into flames in embarrassment. a chorus of quiet laughter rumbles around the pool, before mualani returns with saurian crackers and drinks and everything is soon forgotten.
“this is why i pointed out the swimwear,” you giggle, leaning against mavuika’s shoulder as you nibble on a saurian cracker.
mavuika sighs, but a wry smile pulls at her lips. “yes, i’m starting to see that now.”
and yet, she can’t bring it in herself to find any regret for coming. because here, with you, and surrounded by friends—this is where she should be, where she wants to be. it has been so many years since she could take a well-deserved breath, without the weight of a nation on her shoulders. and she’d choose to be here with you over and over—even if that meant natlan finding out their beloved archon was a total bottom.