"Hey, TheShyIon, have you seen my- oh."

It isn't worth describing TheShyIon's normal hair colour, because Iximaz couldn't see it. Nor is it worth describing her normal clothing, because she wasn't wearing it. All she had on was a very skimpy bikini - but Iximaz couldn't even tell what colour it was. All she knew for sure was that her Little Sib was covered, head to toe, in what seemed to be water.

Purple water.

"Oh, um, hi!" TheShyIon whipped her hands behind her back and tried her best to look innocent. "I, um, wasn't expecting you!"

"No, I can-- TheShyIon, what are you hiding?"

TheShyIon bit her lip. "You'll laugh."

"I won't laugh."

"You will. Everyone laughs."

Iximaz pressed a hand over her heart. "My dear TheShyIon, have I ever laughed at you?"

TheShyIon considered. "... yes?"

"That settles it, then. What're you hiding?"

TheShyIon sighed and showed Iximaz the bottle she was holding. It was transparent glass, half-filled with a deep purple liquid. "It's, um, potassium permanganate."

Iximaz blinked. "And you pour it over yourself? Isn't that... dangerous?"

There was a sudden scuffling noise from overhead, and then Huinesoron's head appeared, dangling from a hole in the ceiling. "Potassium permanganate causes severe skin burns, and if absorbed through the skin it can--" He vanished as suddenly as he'd appeared, dragged back into the ceiling, and the girls heard his muffled voice moving away: "Sorry, Hawkelf, but this was an emergen..."

TheShyIon blinked up at the ceiling, then shrugged and returned her gaze to her Big Sib. "I can't help it," she said, hunching her shoulders. "It just feels so..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Good."

Iximaz studied TheShyIon for a few seconds. Then she shrugged. "Okay, if that's what you're into. So have you seen my pencil?"

TheShyIon stared at her, startled out of her embarassment. "You're... not going to laugh?"

"I said I wouldn't, silly." Iximaz ruffled TheShyIon's hair, then wiped her hand on her black dress. "But seriously, I need my pencil back."

"I think I saw it over by the computer." TheShyIon quickly tipped a little more potassium permanganate into her hand and massaged it into her hair. "What're you writing?"

"Oh, I'm not." Iximaz strode over to the computer and picked up the pencil in question, then turned back to her Little Sib with a smile. "This isn't my writing pencil," she said, her voice dropping into a low, husky register. "This is my... other pencil."

"Oh." TheShyIon swallowed. "Oh. Um. Oh." She blinked. "Is it... any good?"

Iximaz had already started back to the door. She stopped abruptly and turned to face TheShyIon. "It... well, yes. Why are you asking?"

"I thought..." TheShyIon took a deep breath. "I just thought you might like to... stay here. With me. For a while."

Iximaz studied her again. Then, at last, she smiled. "I knew I was right not to bother with the leather trousers," she said. "So tell me, TheShyIon - does that permanganate really feel that good?"