Blueberry Muffins and Apple Pie

Chapter 6: Calming waters

When Nightmare dragged him out of bed at the crack of dawn Swap didn't know what was going to happen.

He was even more concerned when Nightmare tugged off his clothes and unwrapped Swaps bandages.

Swap shook. Scared the other was going to repeat last nights events.

Thankfully his fears were unanswered.

Instead, the larger ported them both to paradise.

An indoor hot spring.

The room was large. Much, much larger than the bedroom.

Old wooden ceiling and marble flooring.

Three of the walls were made from the same wood. The forth was made of  Japanese style shoji panels.

Taking up nearly the entire floor was a bubbling, steamy spring. Nothing but a thin ledge wrapped around it and a large flat stone across the back wall. Most likely used as a basking spot and sauna.

When Nightmare set him into the water, he nearly melted.

His aching, sore bones relaxing in the warm fizzy water. It felt magical, literally. Swap was pretty certain there was some type of healing properties that were added to the spring.

The water didn't feel deep near the rims, only a few feet deep. But it seemed to slowly slope down in the middle.

The little skeleton allowed himself to practically sink till his head was barely bobbing above the water.

Nightmare, thankfully, didn't join him. Instead the larger monster made his way to the large stone on the other side of the room.

Swap closed his eye, sighing. He hoped that this was a recurring thing.

But sadly he had his doubts.

Skeletons didn't need to bathe as much a humans and some other monsters.

It was only necessary every few weeks to scrub out any dirt and dust gathered between their joints.

Or to have one after sex to wash away any sweat and magic before it stains. Swap was pretty sure that was the reason they were bathing today.

Besides that there's no use in bathing unless for relaxation purposes.

Swap sat up, glancing to see Nightmare now sitting cross legged on the flat stone, before examining himself.

His ribs were just as he imagined, fucked up. There were webs of cracks and missing chips in his bones. All of which would most likely leave scarring.

One of his lower left ribs was missing an entire inch of bone leaving an obvious gap. Hopefully without aggravating it and letting it to properly heal the bone will grow back and fuse.

His sternum had seen better days. Deep bite marks where plane to see, flushed in his magic to show irritation.

He sighed sadly, angrily, knowing those would leave a mark as well.

The small skeleton reclined back, resting his head on the ledge.

He couldn't help but wonder how many more scars, cracks, and bites he'll get.