Navia agreed it would be terrible of Théadan to get his mud on her, so she believed that innocent expression on his face and smiled up at him as he took care to lean forward and kiss her. It was gentle, light, and her fingers curled around the fabric of his robe sleeve while she resisted the urge to step into his arms to deepen the kiss. With how the last hour of her life had gone, the emotions Navia had for the man before her were easily stirred up, and she felt her heart tug with affection for him and how tenderly he treated her…until she felt the palm of his hand cup her cheek in what would have been a sweet gesture if he was not covered in mud. “Mmph…” Navia started to protest just as he deepened the kiss to distract her from the fact he had done exactly what she had told him not to do. She should have known better.<br/><br/>When their lips broke their connection and she could look up at him through slitted lids of mock irritation, Théadan wore a grin that spoke of his triumph. The tone in his voice mixing with the audacity he had to not only smear mud across her cheek, but then over her nose as well drew a low growl from her. She had been tricked, and masterfully; he had used the sweetness in him that she adored against her. For a brief moment, Navia could only glare up at Théadan, torn between what she wanted to do. She was tempted to pout and insist he actually clean her up, but there was also a strong urge to retaliate. The only problem was that Théadan was already covered in mud; what more could she do to make that worse for him? Fortunately for her, her mind was quick enough to figure out how to do both.<br/><br/>“I cannot believe you would betray my trust like that,” Navia feigned the pain in her voice, remaining up on her toes and close to him while her free hand rose between them so she could begin to wipe the mud on her face onto the sleeve of her robe. She did her best to get it all, but had no mirror to be sure. She also kept her gaze on Théadan, expression mournful, “And after I made sure Baiza would help you heal your burned skin and give you time to relax.” Navia sighed deeply, gaze averting from his as if she was hurt he would smear mud on her. “Then I tell you I’ll have a meal ready for you when you return to our room, and you go and smear your mud all over me.” In an instant her expression changed however, and Navia stepped closer, her free arm sliding up to wrap around his neck and tug him closer while her other hand tightened on his sleeve. Her body brushed up against his, thin robes grazing, and she grinned up at him.<br/><br/>“The least you could do is come up with a kiss that would be worth getting dirty for,” she teased quietly, then leaned in to show him what she meant.<br/><br/>“Uh, should I instead have a bath prepared in your room?” Baiza’s voice called from behind her and Navia paused just as their lips would have touched. Dark eyes scanned Théadan’s for a beat to check for his reaction to the interruption and she pressed her lips together to suppress the desires for him that had bubbled up. “No, that won’t be necessary, Baiza,” Navia answered lightly before a wicked expression crossed her features and she stepped back from Théadan, lowering onto the flat of her feet again, “Théadan prefers to bathe alone.” Baiza had dropped that into her lap so nicely, it was the perfect answer to Théadan’s muddy kiss. She breezed past him then, wiping the mud she’d accumulated on her arm from having it around his neck on her sleeve, “Thank you again for all your hospitality.”<br/><br/>“Of course,” Baiza answered easily, watching Navia depart down the hall before turning her attention back to Théadan with her eyebrows raised. She had not meant to interrupt the intimate moment they had been having, she would have been perfectly happy to send for a bath to be prepared in the privacy of their room, but she was also content to accommodate Théadan’s bathing preferences. “We have a very primitive shower here, meant only for the mud baths so you do not continue to sit in the mud when you wash it off,” she explained while giving her hand a wave so Théadan would know to walk through the door, “I have heard other countries have whole shower systems that work similarly to how farmers irrigate crops, but Khlurios favors bathing. So we just have a large tub above the shower that we can fill, then the water drains into this room to flush the mud away. You should have very few signs of the sun’s affect on her your skin when the mud is removed.”<br/><br/>Baiza waited outside the door so he would have the privacy to go within, where the room was lit by a long horizontal window toward the top of the far wall, allowing for light to shine in, but for the bather to have privacy. A series of small windows no more than the height of a person’s ankle ran across the bottom of the wall as well. A wide showerhead was attached to the ceiling and the floor sloped slightly so the water would run toward the outside wall and through the holes at the bottom. A small shelf near the door housed towels and a new robe that Baiza pointed out to him, then shut the door behind Théadan so he could have his time to shower in solitude.