There was no difference between staring into darkness and something so bright it strains your eyes to aversion. You could never see the heart of either; left with wonder, with mystery ... desire. The silks as Coventina unburdened herself from them evoked a similar quality with unblemished pale for miles. It stretched on with every sashay of slender legs and the ample curvature they hefted, one arm placed gently across the largest of these on her chest and the other trailing through the air at her side as if already wading water. She had begun to move alike to being submerged, the fine veneer of steam that she moved through parting way before their ruler with just a lick of her skin.

She drank in the taste of the air, its heat, and it almost brought color back to her cheeks; almost, her body arched and head tilted to lap the cold of the air left above these wreathes of mist. She paused at the water's edge, perfect toes curled over spotless brick and dripping already with the barest embrace of the condensation that formed on her skin. They all spilled as obvious trails and beads of water, every imperfection highlighted by the presence she seemed to cast and immediately disavowed by the same. She was a force more than this water. She was denser than its heat. She was brighter than its fire. She stood out, and then she slipped inside, and she disappeared in its folds as a specter.

Coventina Carmen found herself the shark in the water of the hot springs, murmuring blissfully and moving immediately within its pool to splay out her long black tresses and tend them through the wet. They spread like inky tentacles on its surface, a witch of the depths, and the leisure she took in the descent of her body beneath its mirror only further cemented her domain.

"Mmm ..."

A pitter-patter, soft beats on firm wood echo like raindrops with every step. The serpent slithers closer to paradise, a sway to her beat and the strum of heartstrings herald her arrival akin to a cheery song hummed through soft giggles. Her hair is already loose, a wild, pallid mane accentuated with ebony that cascades like an avalanche to droop over frozen lakes, a molten heat submerged begging to swell to the surface anew, and her silk robes hang slightly ajar, revealing peeks of supple flesh as she skips through the corridor, bottle of wine in hand.  Desdemona wasn't expecting company at this hour despite her little concert and exhibitionism, so deep into the night tide that even the streets were void of any tantalizing stimulation.

Beyond the boundary lies smoldering heat that tingles on the tip of her tongue - the thick taste of sweet lavender blended with humidity and steam forces out a tickled moan. A girl could get used to this~ A pampered princess; everyone's favorite dolly - the apple of your eye and oh, how she deserves to be spoiled rotten. The open-air is filled with capricious titters as she embraces the misty wonderland, taking her first step into its all-encompassing embrace.

A silhouette casts an ample shadow, decidedly a maiden of some such persuasion, and the siren's call, however hushed it may be, beckoned Desdemona to come hither. Mona needs little convincing, the willing damsel in distress that she is, forever yearning to play with the unknown - the dangerous, any creature that might lead to thrills, cheap or otherwise. An ambitious hand twitches in anticipation and draws the hastily tied sash of her silken robe, pulling with impurity as it slips gradually from her shoulders to settle on yet undefiled brick.

She dips her toes in the water and quietly wades in, the swelter of the depths stifling the fire that's kindling inside her. A giddy nymph, serpentine, creeping closer still to the lady in the lake and the gifts she might provide. Splish. Splash. Desdemona presents a gift of her own, cusped tightly in her trembling hands, fingers tracing the contour of its glassy varnish. Finally, she pierces through the veneer of steam and wonder, descending upon her prey with a practiced coy smile and wide-eyed innocence painted on her expression.

She blinks. The dance macabre of a drained corpse dangling from umbral strings like a marionette, the bloodstained kiss she hungers for again, and the promise shared in the relinquishing of control. Leave it all to my Coventina~ The words echo so violently. Desdemona's heart quivers in its prison, threatening to burst forth from her chest, and the heat, the passion, and the gory cravings all coalesce into a hitched squeal and chittering laughter.

Mona has to behave, behave for her Coventina; a good girl that desires praise and affection in equal measure to the myriad of horrors plaguing her mind. "Bonsoir, Coventina~" She melts into a soft purr, shyly swaying as her nails dig into hazel lacquer, reflecting brilliant rubies that behold the witch with utter reverence. "Positively gorgeous~ Absolutely divine~" She chirps in dulcet tones accompanied by a whimper, gently rubbing her legs together beneath the surface.

"Do you remember me, my dearest puppeteer? "I prayed to Heaven and Hell alike, that we'd meet again, miss~ A goddess, a demoness~? I wasn't quite sure in which you resided." Fluttering eyelashes, a darling doll with corrupted desires concealed in the cutesy manner she twirls her hair and bites her flushed lips, needy for those sweet nothings.

Coventina's playmate needed no real announcement. Her introduction was given in that first touch of the spring's surface, a ripple that Coventina lifted a hand to greet in response. Her fingers pulled through the heady water, letting it lap and spill from her palm, and with it came threads of its nature. She'd stroke the pool and steam as maiden's hair, tempting it, and the waters her and its new entrant resided in would give a pull as gentle back. It swelled with relief at her touch, starting at its edges and reeling closer - and this would begin only as a lap at the figure's back, a nudge forward with little force - subconscious, even - but they'd follow it to where it broke through the fog, eager to return to its mistress.

Desdemona Lafayette would find her Coventina awaiting her with the ghost of a smile and her eyes closed, head lolled to drape the edge of the spring's stone and its surface with her veil of hair. She didn't meet her excitement nor her gaze at first, her initial response only the twirl of a finger that dropped the hazy strings they were tending and released her call with their last strum. A wall of wake had been following the nymph, lifted in a mock tsunami from the spring's dredges and now returned in one gentle motion to splash warmly into place. Moisture rained down on the two, a brief drizzle, and they were then truly alone in their stage of heat and haze. Coventina's smile lifted, turning up the edge of one lip and parting its paleness in two words.

"Hello, kitten." She let her greeting hang, rolling her shoulders to replace the dew that had settled atop them; and followed the motion to an arm's break from the water's surface, tracing the ghost of her nails up Mona's side. It would linger, freeing her thumb from the rest and stroking down the curve of the smaller girl's shoulder. She traced it deeper, basking in her tune of praise and worship, and fluttered her hand at the apex of its descent to curve under her follower's chin. She rubbed it. "My, we are energetic today, aren't we?"

Her laughter was never quite hollow nor ever full, snaking rather than ringing. It came with the huskiness of her tone, leading her finger to trace stray across Desdemona's cheek while she relaxed into the comfort of the spring. No motion she made seemed to disturb the water; she left no imprint, no consequence or validation of her existence save for her touch on newly pliable skin. "Sweet girl. What dastardly things are you up to ... mm? What could you need from your Coventina ...?"

She was neither God nor Demon. She was temptation. She was desire. She was benevolence and maleficence. A Witch, and her spell spun in the twirl of a nailtip that drew faint lines over the pet's features. Such a wretched little doll... oh, how soft, how eager. How fun, a sight for silly dances and haunting giggles. Eyes opened only to grace a shaft of light from their crescents, lids barely lifted, and they peered down from way up high to gild Desdemona. A whimsy of gold, trapping her in the sup of their amber. "Have you been good?"

Desdemona's eyes flicker in reverence, a desperate tug of her sensitive, flushed lips with eager fangs; every fragile phantom of a touch vibrates fantastically through her delicate skin. She can't help but sway to even the slightest movement of the puppeteer, or rather, she surrenders completely to the misty reverie, stepping out from her domain in the garden of Eden into somewhere more profoundly abundant in pleasure. The chaos held within the serpent's mind quiets under the witch's entrancing spell, with bated breath as her eyes shut to focus only on the indulgences provided by Coventina's gentle caress, beckoning the pampered princess to strain a little nearer, legs trembling as her arms fidget beneath the water's surface.

A sharp gasp that billows into an even sharper whimper, hips pitching forward to ripple the calm waters as Desdemona's body reacts to the hand caressing her chin, scritching away as if she were a common house pet. A pet she would be then, and a pet she would remain if that is what her Coventina desired. Desdemona's heart rattles in response to her mistress' greeting, and a frisky smile coils out from pursed lips that smothered her needy little whines. She plays along. She wants to. The kitten, as she is, climbs up into the woman's lap, purring with a soft rumble that echoes sweetly in the depths of this paradise, and raises her paws to mimic the behavior of a docile feline begging for more affection with little swipes, head tilted with a wiggle to let her platinum mane run a little wild. "Mrow~?" A soft, compliant mew, staring up sanguinely, cheeks tinted a scarlet hue that mirrors the intermittent flashing of her eyes that can't quite decide how to feel.

"It's impossible not to get excited when I see you. You treat me so wonderfully, my dearest~ So dangerous. And yet dreadfully sweet to wretched little kitties such as moi. Pampering me, spoiling me absolutely rotten~!" Desdemona hums in absolute obedience, entwined with her enchantress, nails digging into the stony outcrop that supports their weight, and kitten's gaze never wanders far enough from the glowing halo of amber that has her enraptured, stealing away only for lurid glances when the tingly craving of her flesh was adequately attended to. Teetering back and forth with hitched chirrups, Desdemona finds herself lost in the moment - a submissive marionette that bats her eyelashes through a pulsing kaleidoscope, half-lidded and glazed over under the haze of tepid steam and evening dew.

"Mm. Me? Do I look like a naughty kitty~?" A Cheshire grin stretches across unstained porcelain, Mona's lips pursed into a cutesy pout as a hand flits to cheekily nudge against blooming flesh with the tip of her finger. Her arms cross, pressing up against her modest bosom to emphasize her bust, flashing a practiced doe-eyed expression that softens her doll-like face even as she sinks deeper into the witch's embrace. "Of course not~ I've only been helping people since we last met - as dull as it is! I have to be a good girl if I want treats~ To get rewarded by my beautiful puppeteer~!!" The kitten coos again, excitedly chattering for more intimate affection as she wiggles in to rest her head against Coventina.

Mona's eyes ebb into a lustrous blue, comfort in the warmth she feels in a cold body and dead heart, and a shy voice peeps out from under her breath. "Ma belle sorcière~ Ne veux-tu pas faire danser mon cœur à nouveau? Oui, I suppose it already is, hehe~" Her voice pitches into a wishful soprano, tracing a nail to draw a serpentine heart that collapses in of itself a touch away from the raven-haired witch's skin. She peels herself away from Coventina, staring up with wide eyes. "Mmm. What do I need, dearest? I'm happy so long as you don't forget about me. But if I get to choose something... I want you, Cov-en-ti-na~ To know you as you truly are, and to be taken care of. Tell me stories. Show me? Indulge me in ways only you can understand  - your docile little pet can understand."

A calculated lift of her paws again, blinking meekly through half-lidded, glitched scarlet and begging for more attention as she squirms in her Coventina's lap, conquered and bewitched wholly by the mistress of night's infinite gold.

"Miaou~"