Deserted

Mal squirmed against the stream of water. He knew it was working - the fur that Aquarius washed felt so much less gritty and rough - but it was a little strange to be drenched like that. Fortunately, it wouldn't be hard to dry off afterwards, given that he was in the middle of a desert.

The panther reached out a paw to poke at the flow of water; Mal smacked it down. "Don't be rude," Mal said, Lunis glaring down at him.

I have some sand in my fur too," Lunis said, gesturing to his chest. Sure enough, plenty of grains of sand had embedded themselves there, breaking up the sheen that was his smooth fur. "And, unlike you, my fur isn't already yellow."

"Then ask him to take care of it for you," Mal snapped.

"It's alright," Aquarius quietly said. "I can wash your fur, if you want me to..."

Ugh, he'd kinda walked into that one. Well, Mal would make fun of him if he said no, and it looked like it really was working.

"Sure," Lunis said, looking away with a huff.

He wasn't entirely sure why Lunis was reacting in the way he was, but it seemed like something that Aleks might have done - and Aquarius had learned that sometimes it was best not to read into his reactions too much.

Aquarius turned the flow of water to him, gently dousing the dirty areas of his fur.

Lunis didn't like water. Sure, he'd lived in a jungle for the first twenty or so years of his life, and hunting down targets sometimes meant having to wade through rivers and the odd lake or two. Actually, that might've been it - nothing like trying to wave off mosquitoes in stagnant pools, avoiding the monitors by the sides of the river, and keeping an eye out for otters.

"And this isn't going to tire you out or anything?" Lunis said, looking over at Aquarius. "That's a lot of magic, and I remember you did stuff like this earlier."

Aquarius shook his head. "Magic doesn't tire us out."

"He means the gods," Liz helpfully interjected. "It tires me out - and the other chosen - after using it for awhile, but the gods are like an endless well of magic. It's amazing what they can do."

Aquarius blushed and ducked his head down.

Lunis blinked. "So you could just, flood the whole desert if you wanted to?" he said. He didn't know why he was thinking of that, or why that specific idea unnerved him, but it distracted him from the fact that he was being doused by a god.

"...I guess," Aquarius hesitantly agreed. "I don't think it's a good idea to try, though..."

"It was just an idea," Lunis said, before another one immediately popped into his mind. "Can you use any other kind of magic, like fire or ice?"

Aquarius shook his head.

"Each god has a specific power, and we can't use the other powers," he replied. He glanced over Liz, knowing that his girlfriend was probably going to add her thoughts in soon, too. "I can only use water, but my twin brother can use ice, and my older brother can create gold."

"Gold?" Lunis said, eyes growing a little wider as he tried hard to stifle a grin. "I think I'd like to meet this older brother of yours."

"Minecraftia doesn't use it for currency," Liz interjected, already sensing exactly where Lunis was going with his comment. "He's been tempted to use it for that before, but they mainly use emeralds there."

"In our world," Mal said, "Gold is worth a little more. And I'm sure Lunis isn't interested in, say, getting a bunch of gold and spending it on himself, instead of, for instance, some kind of rebellion where we might need the money."

Lunis glared down at the lion. "If you say anything else, I'm going to use you as a towel," the panther hissed.

"A rebellion?" Pride asked. He had been mostly silent for the duration of the conversation, thinking of the siblings he had left behind in the other reality, but this comment sparked his interest.

Mal winced. "I dunno if rebellion is the right word?" he said. "But my boyfriend and I went back to his home, and we're trying to keep a queen's daughter from taking it over. So having the money to pay people off or buy supplies would be nice."