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Barbara was going to have a spa day, and nothing could derail her.
Not the technicality that it was a hot spring and not a spa. Not Wally fussing about being left with Javier until Enrique had run into the room to happily scream his greeting. Not a winter coat that had been misplaced when they’d remodeled the basement.
Not a boyfriend who had figured out the trip was secretly for him and had let his petty pride come roaring to life.
Trollmarket had relocated to New Jersey because they needed the Heartstone to survive, to keep their stone alive and animated. Aaarrrgghh visited often now that Claire had mastered using her shadow portals to take them back and forth.
But Walt resisted, it had taken months to carefully wear through the mile wide stubborn streak that ran through him, to finally get him to the point where he was willing to admit he was a troll. But still, he wasn’t like those trolls, changelings were made to live away from a Heartstone, he didn’t need it.
She wanted to, with the utmost love and care, smack him with a broom.
It seemed to start in his wings, he tried to hide the stiff flex as he took off his jacket and unfurled them when he got home from work. But they shared a bed, and he clung to her like an octopus, delighting in wrapping his wings around her and blocking out the rest of the world. It was harder to hide the achy twitches then, especially after she’d learned to watch for them.
But there were natural hot springs in New Trollmarket, mild enough that a human could go in safely, thus the ruse of the spa day.
‘Being a new mother is stressful, I deserve a little break.’ Was met with a promise of a date night, an offer of a trip to a regular spa, and her missing out on cuddling Wally after he finished his bath that night.
‘The hot springs are good for the joints, Walt, I’m on my feet at the clinic all day.’ Hums of sympathy and a heavenly massage, but suspicion had started to creep in at her insistence.
‘Jim and his friends found more things in Trollmarket to take to New Jersey, you should help him carry them when we go over.’ A long pause as his eyes slowly narrowed into a knowing glare, then grumbling acceptance.
It wasn’t a particularly clever ruse.
“Walt! Claire’s going to be here any minute!” She called down the stairs as she pulled on her coat. He appeared a moment later, coming out of the tunnels with a sturdy box in his hands and a determinedly sour look on his face.
His clicking steps followed her down the hall, he added the box to the small pile that had formed in the entryway and straightened up to neaten his much thinner coat. “She could have teleported them from the tunnel.”
She sidled up close and kissed his cheek. “Oh, are you allowing other people down in the basement again?” She teased knowingly. The remodeling of the basement from storage space and occasional studio, to his bedroom, to their bedroom had its hiccups and starts, mainly centered around the furnace and the tunnel that acted as a third entrance to their home. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, then kissed her hair before turning away petulantly.
“I’ll start the framing this weekend.”
She squeezed him with a side hug and leaned her head against his shoulder. “Thank you for doing this with me, I appreciate it.”
He grumbled something under his breath as footsteps clattered across the porch and Jim and Claire came in through the front door.
Claire opened up a dark portal and they all picked up a box and worked to ferry them through, passing them off to the waiting hands of Blinky, Aaarrrgghh, Toby, and Nomura.
Blinky hugged her with a boisterous greeting and Nomura slung her arm around Walt’s shoulders, he bristled uncomfortably but didn’t move to push her away.
“There’s something I want to show you, if I can interrupt your date.” Nomura hissed teasingly in his ear, Barbara liked the way he blushed, but she liked the minute way he relaxed and breathed easier under the warm red glow of the Heartstone more.
He looked over to her questioningly and she shrugged. “Have fun, you know where to find me.” She smiled and offered him a coy little wave as she shouldered her tote bag and walked out of Blinky’s work area at the foot of the Heartstone, taking off into the market.
She didn’t come here very often, but every time was a delight as she watched the market grow and change as the trolls settled in and made their homes. But it was a cold day, the chill of deep winter had seeped down through the rocks and filled the cavern, causing her to pull her coat tighter against it.
But she knew where she was going and she wouldn’t need her coat once she got there.
A joyful neon sign of a steaming coffee cup had gone up above the cave entrance, along with a sign with both trollish and English lettering, she smiled as she passed under it.
Steam and the sulfurous smell of rotten eggs greeted her as the little tunnel opened up into the caves with the hot springs.
She was alone, most of the pools were deep enough to be dangerous to the trolls and fixing them was low on the list of priorities for getting the market up and running. But she could still see a pool or two that had been enlarged and shallowed into something safer.
She would settle in one of those later, first she wanted something else, she headed to the side of the cavern, past many signs that blared out their warning of DEEP WATER.
It was a beautiful pool, Heartstone fragments and other crystals glowing down in the depths, illuminating odd formations in the stone as it had formed and eroded. The lights also caught the steam rising from the pools, coating the whole area in a dreamlike fog.
Jim had warned her on their first visit that depth perception didn’t work in caves, doubly so when water was involved. The pool before her would be an inescapable deathtrap for any troll unlucky enough to fall in.
But to her it looked like an Olympic sized bathtub of steamy relaxation, complete with natural candles and mineral soaks.
She shimmied out of her coat and clothes until she was in just her swim suit, setting everything else off to the side with her tote and towel.
The air was still cool and she shivered as she stepped back up to the edge and peered in, looking at the sharp drop off and wondering if there was a ledge that would work best for getting in and out.
There were scratchy footsteps behind her, approaching fast. She turned just in time to watch Walt charge past her and cannon ball into the water.
She screamed as she watched him sink down in a burst of bubbles. Didn’t he see the signs? Should she dive in after him? Would running to Claire be the better bet?
Walt’s wings unfurled, cleanly cutting through the water before beating down, sending him rocketing back towards the surface.
He broke free of the water, grinning wide as he shook the water out of his hair roguishly and splashed towards her feet.
“You can swim!”
“Why wouldn’t I?” The boyish and charming look on his face dimmed slightly as he noticed how worried she looked.
“Walter Strickler you are a rock!” She stomped her foot for emphasis.
He smiled at her mischievously, “A flying rock.”
His wings swept wide again, pushing him through the water towards her. It was a softer and slower dance than the movements that kept them aloft when he took her flying.
She sat down on the edge of the pool with an exasperated sigh, draping her legs into the water and feeling the heat seep in and contrast the chill of the air. “One day you’ll run out of secrets to surprise me with.”
He laughed roughly, “I have a lot of them.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” He said softly as he reached her, his wings stretched out to either side of her to hook his thumbs against the lip of the pool while he tried to find some part of the wall to grip with his feet. Eventually he settled, kissing her knee before he rested his chin atop it, looking up at her apologetically.
The water took most of his weight and made him almost light as he rested against her, slowly rubbing his hands up and down her calves.
“I wasn’t actually expecting you to get in the water with me.”
“But you were so insistent that it was good for the joints.” He said with a heavy layer of sarcasm.
She smirked down at him, reveling in her victory as she leaned to the side and saw the swim trunks he wore. “You’re awfully prepared for this trip you didn’t want to take.”
His hands continued to massage at her legs. “I’ve been trying to listen to my doctor more. She gives good advice, even when I don’t like it.”
She hummed thoughtfully as she leaned forward, “I have it on good authority that she just wants you to be happy and healthy.” She punctuated the sentiment with a kiss to his forehead.
“Foreign concept.”
“Well, you care about me, and I care about you, so you’ll have to learn.” She teased. He smirked and rolled his eyes at her playfully before he pushed up out of the water to kiss her proper.
They broke apart as her teeth tried to chatter. Walt laughed at her as he slipped back down into the water. She flicked some water into his face and he laughed louder. She waited for him to blink it away before putting her hands on his shoulders and slipping down into the water with him.
His hands caught her hips as he leaned back to give her space, she grinned boldly and wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing him closer as she slid her hands back and up into his hair.
He wore her favorite expression as he tipped his forehead to rest against hers, an enamored sort of amusement that wrinkled up the corners of his eyes and made them shine brighter. It was beautiful, she would never tire of seeing it, she wanted Walt to look at her that way forever.
He chuckled. “You look very proud of yourself.”
“Of course, I’ve got you right where I want you.” She smiled coyly and pressed her lips to his, picking up right where they’d left off.