AN

Yeah, I think my motivation for this chapter just kind of died at one point--

Just an FYI, it might be a bit until I post the next chapter. I'm not going off the grid or anything; I just want to take a breather for a short while.

~🌤~

The two travelled for the rest of the day after they had rested up. Come nightfall, they set up a shelter as per usual. Xelqua made this one larger than the last, realizing there was more space needed this time around.

The two had been traveling for a few days already. Partially cut off from their magic their bodies reserved it, forcing them to take care of themselves manually like players did. Add in a sweltering trip to the Nether, and it was only natural that the body odor from only one of them alone was enough to knock out any regular player.

"Why did you make this room so much bigger than last time?" Miesall asked as Xel began shoveling a hole in the dirt floor. "And what are you doing?"

"You'll see." Xel smirked as he widened the hole to be comfortable enough for one person to lay in. He climbed out before filling it up with water from his water bucket.

"I see a hole with water." Miesall observed, completely unamused. He still didn't see where this was going as Xel quickly began crafting something. Once finished, he tossed the red bar over to his partner, who sniffed it.

"Soap?" He asked, still not following.

"Yeah, if you just have some apples and a few other things, you can make soap. It's not the good stuff, but it will do." Xel shrugged.

Miesall stood there, using his eyes to study the soap. He brought it up to his mouth, pausing before lowering it again and studying it some more. After a short while, he walked over to the water and dropped it in, turning his head over to Xelqua for confirmation.

The Watcher gave a nervous shrug. Good enough of a start, he supposed. "Now you take your clothes off an—" He was interrupted by a slap in the face. He stumbled backwards, falling onto the bed as he held a hand over his cheek. "What was that for?!" he cried.

The blushing creature hugged his sides, fluttering his wings. "That's indecent!" he scolded.

"Well you didn't have to slap me!" Xel cried back. His body had already gotten rid of the pain, but he still finding himself holding his cheek anyway. He took a moment to calm himself down. "What I was going to say was, get into the water."

"You want me to get into the mud pit unclothed with apple-scented soap." Miesall stated, almost as if this was as bizarre a thing to ask for as grilling chicken on a boat in the bottom of the ocean.

Xelqua studied the water. The bar of soap had floated into a corner, ready to be used. "Well... there's more to it than that, but yes." He gave a soft laugh as he felt all of Miesall's judgmental eyes peering into him.

"It is dishonorable to be unclothed." The Watcher insisted, crossing his arms.

Xelqua was tempted to point out that players did it all the time, several times throughout the day in fact. He knew they didn't count though, seeing as they weren't of the higher species. "It's also dishonorable to reek and look like a pig." He argued, frowning. Miesall sucked in a breath, offended. Xel continued anyway. "What would the Great Ones think if you came home looking like..." he gestured to all of Miesall— his mess of hair, robes that had turned brown with dirt, rips and tears everywhere. Even his wings — usually a pristine white— had become a slight greyish brown color, and his feathers needing pruning. "That."

Miesall allowed his eyes to circle himself. He stayed quiet, noting everything about his appearance. He decided that what Xelqua spoke of did indeed make sense. He let out a sigh. "If the others hear about this..." he began.

"Then we won't bring it up." Xel assured. It may be lying if they deny it happening, but what was the chances of someone asking about this exact scenario? "And I won't look either."

Miesall stood still for a few moments. He slowly kneeled down, reaching his hand in to feel the water. It was cool to the touch, acting as a lubricant of sorts on his fingertips. There was not many times in his life that he had intentionally touched water outside from possibly his childhood, in which the giant water fountains were mistaken for toys.

As he felt Xel's eyes flee, he slowly undid his robe, tossing it to the side. Under normal circumstances, he probably would have handled it with noticeably more care. However, he now realized that it was nothing short of filthy, and mishandling it considerably would likely not be apparent.

Next, he slowly stepped into the water. It came up halfway to his knees, not nearly far enough to get his whole body wet. He stayed silent as he stood there, letting some of the dirt off his muddy feet rise up in the water.

Xel wished he could observe Miesall to see if he was doing everything correctly, but he had to respect his friend's privacy. "Now, sit down if you aren't already." He heard movement in the water, alerting him that his friend had indeed not been sitting.

He questioned how he could know so little, having watching humans for centuries, but he decided to dismiss it as nervousness to get something wrong — that his friend had decided inaction was better than failure.

At Xel's instruction, Miesall took ahold of the soap. He had been told to 'use' it. Use it how exactly? Like an apple, as it was made from? Or by rubbing every part of his body?

"I know where your mind is going and I don't like it. But yes, get soap all over you." Xel said, fluttering his own wings.

The curly haired Watcher slowly obeyed, copying the humans he had seen do this many times. The suds slowly cascaded down his body, gathering grime with it. He was surprised to see that his skin was a different color underneath. Following Xel's instructions once more, he laid in the tub, trying his best to fully submerge himself.

The water pushed up against him in a way that reminded him of air pressure. This was different though, a constant pressure rather than a gentle teasing where the wind played with his hair. As he sat up from the water, it stayed with him. It dribbled into his eyes, despite how many times he blinked them. It was almost a constant stream of water, and he messed with his hair trying to make it stop. If he didn't have detached eyes, he would have wondered if Xelqua was pranking him by pouring water on his head. He let out an annoyed sound as he fought the water which, while slowing down, did not stop dripping into his eyes. He hated the way that water just seemed to cling to his wings, trapping itself inside of them. He fluttered his wings wildly as he stood up, spraying water absolutely everywhere.

Xel ducked, as if somehow that would protect him from the water. In any case, he still got thoroughly soaked. "Geez Miesall, you aren't a dog!" He joked to Salt's discontent, laughing as the last of it sprayed him. He stood himself up now, not bothering trying to dry off. He walked over to his crafting table before quickly making some clothes and a towel for his friend. "Now you can step out and dry off with this." He tossed over the towel without looking, and Miesall hesitantly did what he was told.

Next, Xel handed over the clothes. "Here, put these on. I just crafted them."

Miesall studied them silently, feeling the textures on his hands. "I know. I just saw." he replied. he moved his head towards his robes, the proper clothing for a Watcher. "I cannot wear these."

Xel sighed, having expecting this to happen. He walked over to his friend's robes. "Salt, these are filthy. You can't wear them or you'll be just as gross as before." Before he could hear any protesting, he quickly stashed them in his inventory. He got an annoyed grunt as his reward, leaving Miesall no choice but to put on the new clothes. When he finished putting them on, he stood, wearing a white shirt with faded blue accents and a star in the center. He tugged at his jeans, which clung to and squeezed his legs, abdomen and crotch in ways he simply couldn't handle. Having worn a robe his entire life, pants were very much a new and unwelcome concept to him, much less tight ones.

"I'll see if I can wash it later." Xel spoke out loud, seeing the discomfort written all over the Watcher's face. He was doubtful though, seeing as many holes as he did. He would need quite a bit of string to patch it up, and even then it wouldn't be presentable by Watcher standards. He decided to not say this out loud for now

As Miesall tried to get used to wearing his new pants, Xelqua took a quick bath himself. He was relieved when he donned on a green t-shirt and pants, similar to ones he once wore long ago. With a nice sleep, he was ready to continue their eternal adventure to spawn.

~🌤~

AN

Okay, So Salt's birthday is December 25th.

My outlandish not-sure-if-it's-official lore behind it is that when a Watcher is born, a star appears in the sky. Miesall was born around 2,000 years ago. So some men saw this new star, and thought it meant there was a savior being born, and it led to them finding Jesus.

So basically, Miesall accidentally started a religion by being born and he is not happy about it. It would also mean December 25 isn't actually his birthday, just being like, "hey this guy shared a birthday with me and this is when he celebrates it." If that makes sense.