Carrick lay in the bathtub, his tail dripping some water. He seemed very peaceful. A lot less annoying than awake. Amethyst was lost for a moment in preening the feathers, and the next thing she knew, he was purring. Next to the wings, the purring was the most fascinating thing about him. It was a deep, rumbling sound. The princess chuckled as she tucked another feather into place.

>>”Careful love, people might think yer getting sweet on me.”

The moment was broken. She rolled her eyes, but her attention was still fixed on the wing; she could't leave it half groomed just yet. It took Carrick a moment to fully wake up and regain his usual sense of bashfulness.

>>”What are ya doing?”

"What does it look like?" she shot back, looking up at his flushed face "Oh, relax, fly boy. The bubbles are covering your private parts, and it's not like I haven't seen you naked before. Nothing to be ashamed of."

"What does it look like?"

”Yer grooming me.” he said making sure everything was covered. There were some bubbles left. He motioned for them to cover more in front than behind him. The shifter sank in the water a little bit his face still red.

”Ya keep saying that, doesn’t make it any easier on me.” he said knowing she had seen him naked. Normally he wouldn’t care if someone saw him naked as long as he controlled the situation. It seemed The princess was the one doing all the controlling in most of his naked encounters with her. ”Was… that a compliment?” he asked trying not to laugh.

”Cause it almost sounded like one.” he smirked and raised an eyebrow at her.

>>"Yer grooming me.”

The princess huffed, but she couldn't really argue with the statement. She was grooming a wing, almost absent-mindedly. Neat wings looked nice. His wings definitely needed to be groomed after all he'd been through. And the feathers were nice to the touch. Amethyst ran her fingers over them again.

He was still fretting about being naked.

>>”Ya keep saying that, doesn’t make it any easier on me.”

She sighed, turning her head so that she was looking at the wing again instead of him. If he wanted to cover up, so be it. It was silly, but people did silly things in different cultures.

>>”Was… that a compliment? Cause it almost sounded like one.”

"Whatever" she muttered, poking at the feathers. He could have just taken the compliment, really. "Here's a compliment: you smell better."

The shifter laughed at her ‘whatever’ and then pushed himself out of the water slightly so she could get more wing to cover. Carrick might have been embarrassed but he wasn’t stupid, he’d never turn down a free wing grooming. Well depending on the person.

Carrick let out a yawn. ”Two compliments? Must be me lucky day. Maybe I should get into trouble more often.” he closed his eyes again and tilted his head back. Trying not think about the situation too much.

”Thank you.” his tail flicked absent aimlessly. ”I have an in with a princess, spotted me some soap.” he chuckled. ”Glad I don’t normally have to deal with cages anymore.” he said before correcting himself, ”Well, this ones without bars.” he said thinking about the mansion and how he snuck out. Imagining a lot of trouble in his future.

”Missed the city.”

>> ”Two compliments? Must be me lucky day. Maybe I should get into trouble more often.”

"You shouldn't." It really was none of Amethyst's business whether he did or not. But he had been in enough trouble lately without adding to it. And the healer told her to make sure he recovered well. Amethyst didn't usually have responsibilities like that.

>>”Thank you. I have an in with a princess, spotted me some soap. Glad I don’t normally have to deal with cages anymore... Well, this ones without bars. Missed the city.”

The princes shifted, and kept grooming the feathers. She moved around to the other side of his wing, working her way up towards his shoulder, tucking feathers into their places, and smoothing them out. There was something intimate about doing this; not intimate in a way she had been intimate with other people, just... nice. And kind of meditative, working on it.

"Did it help?" she asked after a while "Whatever brawl you got into at the circus...?"

The shifter didn’t open his eyes but started to purr the more she worked on his wings. Feeling them shift back into place while his hands did nothing was a first for him and he seemed to be enjoying himself from the sound he was making.

>>>"Did it help?" "Whatever brawl you got into at the circus...?"

”Ehmmm. Kinda?” Carrick said with a shrug. ”Just reminded me what I was missing. Can’t wait to get this thing off…” he said feeling it on his leg still. Maybe he should have just let it off. Apparently everyone knew he took it out and skipped out for the last two days. How mad would Pippa be?

He thought about it for a second then clarified, ”I mean, it would have been nice to see them without fighting with them. More like me family than I like to admit.” his tail flicked in irritation with the mention of the word, ‘family’. ”Only went cause I was bored. Seemed I got too much excitement.” he said with another yawn.

>>”Ehmmm. Kinda? Just reminded me what I was missing. Can’t wait to get this thing off…”

Amethyst glanced over as he moved his leg. Right, the tracker. He felt locked in and he kept saying so. Someone with wings must have had a hard time staying still... it was not a feeling Amethyst was familiar with, but she was staring to get the idea that it was a serious issue for Carrick.

>>”I mean, it would have been nice to see them without fighting with them. More like me family than I like to admit. Only went cause I was bored. Seemed I got too much excitement.”

"Seems like it" she agreed. She'd worked her way along the wing, and traced her fingers over the back of Carrick's shoulders absent-mindedly, moving on to the other wing. "Family is never simple, huh." she added with a smirk. "I really thought you took off for good."

Carrick’s pointed ears got warm when her fingers traced over his shoulders while she was grooming the other wing. Not opening his eyes he pretended she did it on accident otherwise they were going to have another conversation about him being awkward.

”Yeah know I can always bring ya on the next one. Don’t have a beautiful partner in crime yet, I mean, Zek’s alright sure. Not me type though.” the shifter laughed more to himself.

”They were the ones I picked though.” he agreed with the princess before opening his mismatched colored eyes and turning to the princess. The awkwardness of the situation wasn’t on his mind for a brief second, ”I’d let ya know if I had to go anywhere, you’d hear me. I’m good at shouting.” he turned his head back to the ceiling and closed his eyes again. He wouldn’t do what Liz did. The princess deserved more than that.

”Is this the royal pet treatment?” Carrick smirked asking still ready to turn the position down but was open to negotiations.

>>”Yeah know I can always bring ya on the next one. Don’t have a beautiful partner in crime yet, I mean, Zek’s alright sure. Not me type though.”

Amethyst huffed at the offer. The last thing she wanted to do was to go out on some wild adventure where people got beaten up at a circus. She was flattered by being called beautiful though, and the unspoken assumption that she was Carrick's type. Well, more his type than whatever a Zak was. Not that she wanted to be anyone's type. But at least it was as close to a compliment as Carrick had ever paid her.

>>”I’d let ya know if I had to go anywhere, you’d hear me. I’m good at shouting.”

He would. She remembered him roaring at the man in the park. It was somewhat reassuring to know he would not just take off.

>>”Is this the royal pet treatment?”

"No" the princess huffed and chuckled, tucking some feathers into place "If you were a royal pet, I'd have servants to do the grooming."

The question was valid, however. He was not a royal pet (by mutual agreement) and he was not a concubine. The princess mulled the question over. The third option was kind of a foreign concept to her.

"Are we... friends?"

”Ah, well that’s good I didn’t agree to it then. The idea of strangers touching me wings while in me birthday suit just.” his shoulders tensed a little while he shook his body a little.. Water shot off in all directions from his hair while he shook. He smirked, ”Then again I’d have to get to know them. Be weird otherwise.”

”Sure hope we are… I mean…” Carrick said with a nervous chuckle, ”never agreed to bath in front of someone before… in this skin at least. Modesty goes out the window with the big guy. Can’t even find pants for ‘em. Not that I like pants in that form anyways.” he said knowing he was rambling. It was helping him distract himself from what they were. He didn’t bathe in front of friends normally.

”I mean, I don’t have just anyone touch me wings, love.” he paused for a second. ”What did you think we were?” he asked curiously looking over his shoulder watching her correct his out of place feathers. Despite the singeing they were looking better than normal. He was going to need to step up his preening game.

Carrick was most decidedly not a royal pet. First off, there was nothing royal about him, in terms of behavior, and second... well, he was not a pet. Amethyst was beginning to think it would be weird to keep a person as a pet.

>>”Ah, well that’s good I didn’t agree to it then. The idea of strangers touching me wings while in me birthday suit just... Then again I’d have to get to know them. Be weird otherwise.”

Carrick shook his hair and sprinkled her with water; the princess yelped. He seemed less flustered now about the whole nakedness thing. Did it mean they were friends?

>>”Sure hope we are… I mean… never agreed to bath in front of someone before… in this skin at least. Modesty goes out the window with the big guy. Can’t even find pants for ‘em. Not that I like pants in that form anyways.”

The big guy being his beast form, she figured. He had taken off his clothes and skin, so yes, that form was definitely less modest than this one. It wasn't really an answer, but he did kind of state they were friends, just because he was sitting naked in her bathtub and she was working on his feathers.

>>”I mean, I don’t have just anyone touch me wings, love. What did you think we were?”

"How should I know?" the princess huffed, but there was a smile in the corner of her lips "It's not like we have the same concept of relationships."

>>>"How should I know?"

The shifter started to smirk when the princess huffed. His eyes shifted from his wings to the princess’s face where he could almost detect a smile. Raising an eyebrow Carrick was wondering what she was thinking.

>>>"It's not like we have the same concept of relationships."

”Oh?” his voice cracked a bit after he started to think about relationships. He was naked in her bathtub. He looked down and eyed the bubbles some of them started to dissolve there was definitely less cover than when she first came in. The water was getting a little cold as well. The Irishman however didn’t’ want to get up. One, he was naked two, he was worried whatever this conversation was about would be forgotten or not touched upon again. His tail flicked at her sending a little water her way.

”Sorry,” Carrick said grabbing his tail and moving it away from the edge of the tub closest to the princess. ”Curious now. What kind of relationships do you usually have?” he asked wondering what things were like in Atlantis.

There he went again, looking all sheepish. His tail flicked water in her direction and the princess wrinkled her nose. He definitely smelled better now with the bubbles and the soap, and the wing was beginning to look decent as well.

>>”Sorry. Curious now. What kind of relationships do you usually have?”

"Oh, come on" the princess rolled her eyes "You crashed my party and made comments about the kind of friends I have. And apparently concubines are not a thing in this country, because people make judgy faces when I talk about them. And people in the park thought I have sex with you because we were eating hot dogs." she added with a smirk "I'm just saying, people have different ideas about relationships..."

The shifters face turned beat red while his eyes shifted back to anything but the princess while she talked of concubines and sex. Did people think they were having sex? He lowered into the tub a little wishing it was deeper so he could submerge himself.

”Yeah, because they were mean to Praxi she didn’t deserve that.” he said distracting himself with trying to get on the princess’s nerves. ”Never liked bullies.” his tail resurfaced from the water went to the opposite side from the princess where it lounged.

”’nd the only one who thought we were doing anything was the guy who lost the shouting match.” he smirked, ”Not the smartest man if yer looking for examples.”

Carrick tried not to think of the princess with anyone the idea upset him. His tail splashed the water. ”and yeah, concubines aren’t really a thing here.” he said. ”Guess that’s like a prostitute though.” he scratched the back of his head. ”Sex fer goods or services.” he met a few. Nice people, not really his area of expertise though.

”People do…” he said agreeing with her. ”Was more curious bout yer ideas though.” he said looking back at the tub water. Which had a darker hue when he first got in.

>>"Yeah, because they were mean to Praxi she didn’t deserve that. Never liked bullies.”

The princess frowned. The truth was, the Atlantean ladies had not treated Praxi and Carrick any differently than they would treat any other gorgon at home. But looking back on it now, he was not wrong. It did sound... bad.

>>”’nd the only one who thought we were doing anything was the guy who lost the shouting match. Not the smartest man if yer looking for examples. and yeah, concubines aren’t really a thing here. Guess that’s like a prostitute though. Sex fer goods or services.”

"See, that's different." the princess pointed out. Prostitutes existed on Atlantis too, but royal concubines were not that.

>>”Was more curious bout yer ideas though.”

Amethyst sighed, working on the last of the feathers before he moved to the other side of his wing, taking a seat on the edge of the bathtub. She mulled over the question quietly for a bit.

"See, when you are royalty... you are rarely ever alone. You have servants, ladies in waiting, family, companionship... concubines are not really there for sex. Well, yes, but also for a different kind of company. You get to choose them, for yourself." she shrugged "We don't... what do you call it? Date.Not the nobility, anyway. You will never marry a concubine, and you don't show them off in public. Marriage, is something for politics. But Atlantis, it's a lot less prudish about having harmless fun."