“I’ve got plans, lady.” He dropped his drawers and her eyes went wide as she handed him the jar. He tossed the boxers at her.

“Thoughts?” he asked, smirking at her.

“Um, I’ve just never dated anyone so…tall, before,” she said, clearing her throat. Charlotte tugged at her collar. “Dunk your head under the water and start soaping up from your head and work your way, um, down. You’re not going to get a lather or anything, so don’t worry. It’s working.”

He ducked under the dirty water that smelled of fish and pennies, then took the lid off the jar. The contents smelled considerably better, like jasmine and a little bit like Charlotte. He rubbed the blue liquid into his hair, then scrubbed it over his face and neck. He could feel tiny chunks of metal in the “soap” and he could only assume that was bits of dragon egg. He felt a rush of love and gratitude towards Jillian, for giving up something that meant so much to her. He paused every once in a while to scoop more liquid out of the jar and onto his body. He could feel her magic washing over his skin, like warm, clean bathwater, leeching what was wrong from his being. It was like something in him that he didn’t even know was broken, healed over. He felt whole and right and grateful.

“Duck under the water again,” she told him. And when he raised up from the water, she handed him a towel. “Now comes the hard part. You can’t bathe until the next new moon, which is in two days. It’s kind of like Tupperware, you’re trying to lock in the freshness.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing the blue stuff smells nice,” he said as the others clapped and whistled. “And I’ll be able to shower before you get back.”

“I’m counting on it,” she said, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him. He folded those long arms around her, and they stood there on the edge of the water, the weight of the curse easing away like some burden he’d already forgotten. He wanted to run. He wanted to dance. He wanted the next two days to be over so Charlotte could spend some much-deserved time off in his trailer.

“Can you do anything for the rest of my family?” he asked.

“Sure, Jillian said to use as much of the shell as I wanted. She would rather it be put to good use than sit in a baby memento box,” Charlotte said.

“Would the same stuff work for Jessica?” he asked.

“I hadn’t thought about it,” she said. “Since that’s curse work on a more divine level, I’m not sure it would work, but I can look into it.”

“Do you have to?” he muttered into her hair.