Firestone Hot Springs and that's the skin again

several things were currently occupying okeanos mind, in no particular order:

• having successfully completed his original goal, in significantly less time than anticipated, he was somewhat at a loss to what happens next, and:
  
• trying to balance "winning mal's trust after a childhood filled with conflict and onesided hatred" with "i want to spend every minute at mal's feet until he finally gets it through his pretty and thick head that i like him" and:
  
• there's easthollow, he'd like to visit it and meet @Ibis' friend, if she hasn't gone already, and maybe that's a good next step? and:
  
• cam, and oh, poor lily, and he should bring cam right home, but the poor boy seems like he needs a reprieve, and, well, who better to keep him safe and sound in the meanwhile? but:
  
• are his mothers okay? are they safe? are they worried sick about lily's missing son? are his own brothers okay? really, he should go check on that, but:
  
• it's scary and all, frankly, a bit overwhelming for him right now.
  

what he really needs to do is talk to his sister and see what she wants to do. she'd also seemed very affected by the news, more deeply than he, even -- which, given her sensitivity, makes sense. it strikes him that this independent adult thing is really not all it's cracked up to be. how is he supposed to know what to do?

unfortunately, instead of taking steps to solve any one of these conflicting thoughts, okeanos takes himself next to the forest, to the hot springs he'd spotted at a distance. the smell of sulfur is thick in his nose, and dimly he wonders if there's some sort of benefit to the springs (more to justify trying them out to himself than anything else) as he slides into one of the deeper pools, feeling his muscles tense and slowly relax under the heated water. just a.. quick soak and then he'll find ibis, and sort this all out, surely.

there is some kind of sweet irony about this:

how close she is to the fallen body of her mother-father, and closer still to her brother. since her disappearance they've scarcely crossed her mind; how much (or how little) would it matter to her if she knew?

frankly, her mind was burdened with other things, and those too were cast aside when a wall of sulfur created a barrier between herself and her thoughts. she followed the smell to the water's edge,

[ do you remember when your sister got her first spot? when you got yours? when your throat erupted in a cascade of white you couldn't stop? ]

then recoiled from her own reflection.  half-crumpled, she noticed him, finally — a large, brown shape, just like herself — and startled again.  she should've recognized him ... but she'd spent such little time at elysium to remember who he was.  come on, solomon.  you can't be so scared.

What is this place?

he's gotten used to the smell by now, and the warm water is doing wonders on his muscles. he'll have to bring ibis here, he thinks, and then a small wolf nearby starts, startling him out of his reverie. his expression immediately folds into something apologetic, though he holds his tongue, distracted by the particular spotting of her coat. it reminds him of mal, of course, but he doesn't make the connection -- solomon had disappeared so early in his life, and mal's coloring is so vivid and unique. 

still, a strange feeling hangs in the air. he politely ignores it. "oh," okeanos says instead, in answer to her question, "it's a hot spring -- the water feels nice. i'm, ah, seeing if it has any medicinal benefits," he adds lamely, realizing how silly it sounds as he says it out loud. eager to move on, he adds, "do you live around here?"

he's a welcome distraction from the smell of the fart-water. she wrinkles her nose, swiping a paw across the surface of the water. she can't imagine that it has any benefit, but she asks anyway, well, does it? she doesn't know a lot about this kind of thing, but she knows enough to be skeptical.

no. then she tilts her head as her ears fall to the side. well, yes. and no. i don't live anywhere right now.

he holds his tongue for a moment, anticipating her answer to his attempt to change the subject. and, well, it's not as if he has a good answer for her--he feels more relaxed, certainly, so perhaps for sore limbs, but anything else he'd need an actual patient to test on. so he says, "oh," instead, and, "i'm okeanos, i'm staying close by with -- um, a friend whose forming a pack and my sister." 

shifting, okeanos pulls himself out of the water a little, and smiles sheepishly at her. "i'm not sure about the spring, but it does feel really nice if you're tired. you can join if you want."