"Shopping? A bath would be more appropriate, don't you think?" Mira said, looking over Olivia's appearance.
"True…but what about after the bath? She'll have nothing clean to wear, right?" Zephyr sighed.
"We'll work on that when we get there, I suppose. Now, will you come with us, Olivia?" Mira asked, extending her hand to Olivia.
As Olivia hesitantly placed her hand in Mira's, she offered a small smile. "Thank you, pretty lady!" she said, smiling brightly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't tell you our names, did we? I apologize for that. My name is Mira and this man is Zephyr," Mira said as Zephyr held his hand out for Olivia as well.
"Nice to meet you both!" Olivia said.
As they walked onto the main streets, they were immediately met with strange glances full of animosity.
‘I didn't notice this before, but we haven't seen a single demi-human here. Do they live primarily on the other side of town, as if they're segregated?’ Mira thought to herself.
It didn't seem to bother Olivia though, and that caused Mira to frown. ‘Is she this used to being discriminated against, or does she simply just not notice their hate?’ she wondered.
As they continued on their way, they finally arrived at their destination.
"Are you ladies ready for a nice, relaxing bath?" Zephyr asked, looking at each of them with a smile.
"Yeah!" the girls said in unison, each giggling after copying the other.
"Welcome to the Caerwick Hot Springs! How may I help you today?" said the clerk at the front desk.
"We'd like to book a room for three, please," Zephyr said to the clerk.
"Right this way, sir!" the clerk said as he grabbed the key to the room and led them there. As he opened the door and they walked inside, he began to explain the rules of the hot springs.
"Robes are in the closet there, and the hot springs are down the hall to the left. Soap will be found in the changing room as well. Please enjoy your stay!" he said, turning to leave.
However, Zephyr stopped him before he could. "Excuse me, but could you call in a designer for us? The little one doesn't have anything else to wear, you see," he said, gesturing to Olivia, who fidgeted slightly as the clerk looked her over.
"Of course, sir! I can have them over here by the time you are all finished with your bath," the clerk said as he finally left.
"Now, shall we gather our robes?" Mira said as she opened the closet. Thankfully, the hotel was prepared for children as well, so everyone gathered their robes and made their way to the changing rooms for their bath.
"Guess we'll have to part ways here," Zephyr said glumly, realizing there wasn't mixed bathing.
"Don't sound so upset about it, Zephyr. I don't think Olivia would be comfortable bathing with you anyway," Mira chuckled as she walked into the women's changing room with Olivia.
As they packed away their clothes into the baskets and grabbed the complimentary soaps, they made their way into the bath.
"Ah, isn't this nice?" Mira said as she and Olivia sank into the warm waters.
"It's so warm…I feel like I might fall asleep," Olivia said, causing Mira to giggle.
"Hang on, before you do that, let's get you all cleaned up," Mira said as she grabbed some of the soap and began lathering it into Olivia's hair, careful not to prick herself on her sharp horns.
As the grime fell off her, a beautiful little girl was revealed underneath. Mira couldn't help but remark on this aloud.
"You're so adorable, Olivia!" she said, causing Olivia to blush.
"I think you're much more beautiful than me, Miss Mira," Olivia said sheepishly. Mira smiled, touched by her sweet comment.
As they finished their bath and put their robes on after drying themselves, Mira began brushing out Olivia's long orange hair and braiding it into pigtails.
"What do you think? Does it look good?" Mira asked as Olivia studied herself in the full-body mirror in the changing room.
"I…I look so different from before," she said, tears forming.
"Oh, don't cry, sweetie," Mira said as she held her, patting her back softly in a soothing manner.
"I'm just so happy, Miss Mira! I look so cute!" she said, hugging Mira. "Thank you very much for taking me with you!" she continued, showing Mira a bright smile.
"Oh, you really are just too cute!" Mira said, making Olivia giggle.
"Come on, Miss Mira! Let's go to Mister Zephyr, he might be lonely all by himself," Olivia said, practically dragging Mira behind her.
"She's right, Mira. I've been sooo lonely without you two," Zephyr said, seemingly waiting for them to finish getting ready.
"Mister Zephyr! Did you have a nice bath?" Olivia said as she hugged his leg. He chuckled as he knelt down, ruffling her hair a bit.
"I've been told the designer is waiting for us, so are you ready to get all dolled up, Olivia?"
She gasped. "I get to try on pretty clothes?" Zephyr nodded. "Yay! Let's go!" Olivia said, pulling on Zephyr's arm. And so, the trio made their way back to their room.
To be continued.
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