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Nina stares at her reflection, the water perfectly recreating her image despite the immense amount of steam emanating from it. The unblinking wraith looking back at her should cause some form of distress; rage, anguish, anxiety, yet none of it comes to surface.
She undresses, unsealing her robe with a single spell and letting it fall down on the ceramic floor. Naked, vulnerable, pure. Nothing.
All the spite and self-loathing that guided her every action is now gone, not from any big singular event, but from the constant erosion that a continued existence inevitably brings with it. She puts her index finger on her cheek, and slowly runs it down her neck, then her chest, and finally her thigh. Smooth and soft, this should bother her, it always did. She raises her hand back to her face, she bites into her hand, but it's painless, her teeth going straight through as if she's made of soft candy.
She hears a portal open behind her. There is only one other person that should have access to those baths, but maybe she hoped he would come to interrupt her as he does.
"Bad time?" Kit asks, hopping closer to the water. "I need to finetune the water, but I can come in later. Work, work, work, ya know how it is."
She kicks him into the water, with the difference in size, it was like shoving a pebble out of the way. He yelps as the almost boiling hot water sears his skin, unfortunately, he quickly adapts to the sudden shift in temperature.
Nina lets out a quiet giggle. "If you're going to take a bath, at least have the decency to undress," she says, lowering herself into the water next to him. It's a lot deeper than it appears, as she can submerge herself fully despite being much taller than nearly anyone in the school. The heat hurts, but she doesn't mind.
Kit takes off his cloak and throws it to the side. "This water doesn't wet clothes, not all students are comfortable being naked next to each other, or being cooked alive, that last part is what I came here to fix. Didn't I tell you that? Maybe I didn't, oops!"
"You did, I just don't care if you show up or not." She splashes a little bit of hot water on him. "Since you're here, what are your thoughts on the students this year?"
"Pretty good bunch. Potential here and there, few unique cases like the human and that bird girl, but nothing too worrying. I think most of em will pass, but next year might be..."
"We might need to suspend classes for the next year," Nina states, her gaze wandering over a vision only she can see. "The risk of wars has increased exponentially, and the pressure we've received from other parties to add a duel exam to our curriculum is clear, they want soldiers. The question is, are we going to give them what they're asking for." She rests her back on the border of the bath, awaiting Kit's answer.
