The sounds of a shower could be heard from Cassy's bathroom and the sound of her singing slightly off key was heard as well. Every so often the singing would stop and a fit of sneezes would trail it's wake. Despite the interrupting sneezes, the woman was enjoying her warm steamy shower. The muck of the pond easily came off and the soft aroma of lavender and jasmine stood in its wake. Her soft yet scarred body was soon clean and she shut off the shower. She still hummed softly to the song she had in her head as the water beaded down her tanned skin. The shower had done wonders for her. Her temper had calmed down now that she didn't smell like frogs and fish and pond scum, and she now felt warm.

Cassy then paused briefly in her humming to sneeze. A frown lit her face. She had sneezed the whole way up to her room and feared she may have caught a cold by being in such freezing water. Another sneeze delayed her drying process and she sat down on the edge of the tub and shivered.

"I hope I'm not..." She paused to sneeze, "getting sick." Another sneeze. "I hate being sick..." She grumbled.

Taking a deep breath, Cassy finally stood and dried off. She wrapped a towel around her wet and curling hair and then pulled her long robe around her before tying it securely at her waist.

Leaving her warm bathroom, Cassy paused to sneeze again in the doorway. Her towel fell off her head and when she looked up she saw her drenched brother and the beaten Griffin standing before her. A look of irritation crossed her face and she once again sneezed.

"Gesundheit." Said Griffin; he was unable to take his eyes off of her. His blue eyes took her in and paused momentarily at her slender ankles before going to her bare neckline and finally to her frowning face. Her hair was wet and curling and was a pleasant change from her normal straight locks. He also couldn't help but notice the water drip from the tips of her hair to land on her skin before trailing downward. He shook his head before forcing himself to look back at her face. He was a gentleman not a degenerate.

"What do you two want?" Cassy asked not bothering to hide her irritation. "And you do realize the door was locked for a reason, Bray. Just because you have superb lock picking skills, doesn't mean to use them." She added with an annoyed wave of her hand.

"We wanted to check on you... actually Griff wanted to check on you... I wanted to yell at you for pushing me into the pond, but you're lucky. Griffin talked me out of it." Brayden said irritation coursing through his eyes. "And what good are my skills if I don't put them to use? Besides, I know you wouldn't have let us in otherwise."

"Excuse me if I don't say thanks." Cassy said sarcastically to Griffin. Not caring if the men were in her room while she was only in her bath robe. The young woman walked over to her bed and sat down. Part of her robe fell off her leg to reveal her well-toned thighs and calves. She didn't seem to notice as she dried her curling hair with her towel. Her hair was forming ringlets and it was annoying her, but she would deal with her rebellious hair later. "You're right though, Bray. I wouldn't have let you in. Thus the reason my door was locked. Aren't you lucky I didn't exit my bathroom naked. I would have had to kill you both."

The way she said it was so casual, it made Griffin shudder, thinking she really would have.

"You should thank him Caz. I have a right mind to put you over my knee..." He got no further when Cassy stood up abruptly and the large robe fell off one shoulder exposing more skin than she cared to show, but she didn't take notice because her temper had flared up once more.

"How dare you! You are not my father Brayden... father's been gone for a long time, and you can't and will never take his place. So don't even try! And I'd think you'd have more pity on me since you know what freezing is like. I may just catch pneumonia and if I do, so help me..." Cassy didn't finish her threat because she sneezed once more. Looking up, her eyes landed on Griffin before she pulled her robe back over her shoulder. With a huff, she moved back to her bed and lay against the head rest pulling out a book from under her pillow and began to read it.

The look on Brayden's face fell. He knew his sister was angry, and  he had wanted to comfort her — that had been his intent. Instead he had been sarcastic because he too was angry about being pulled into the freezing water, much like she had been. Still, her words stung. "I'm sorry Caz... forgive me for being too hard on you then." Brayden said bitterly while trying to hide the hurt he felt at what his sister had just told him. "I only wanted to see how you were, but I guess it's a bad time..." He then turned to leave, his gaze turning on Griffin before shifting away. "Hopefully I won't catch pneumonia either..." With that he left not even waiting for his friend.

Griffin didn't follow Brayden; he just stared at Cassy with a frown. "I think you upset him..."

The young Lambert woman didn't bother to look at him; instead she just continued to read her book or at least that's what it looked like. Griffin watched her as she sat there reading. After a few minutes Cassy looked up irritation flashing in her green on blue eyes.

"Why are you still here?" Cassy asked her frown reappearing. She slid off her bed and stood up. Making sure her robe was still secure, she moved past him to grab her brush. Looking at herself in her dresser mirror she frowned at her appearance and began to brush the curls out of her hair but it didn't work. It only caused her curls to frizz and her hair to poof out.

"I dunno why I'm still here. Maybe I'm in shock that you just upset your own brother in such away." Griffin said his eyes following her to her dresser.

Anger sparking once again in her eyes she turned on Griffin pointing her hair brush at him. "It's none of your business anyway. And now that I think about it... maybe it's you I should be angry with... you and that stupid brother of yours! After all if I hadn't tried to..." She paused a moment...

"Interfere?"

"That's not what I was going to say..."

"But it's what you did."

Cassy pressed her lips together, her temper still flaring. "Next time I'll just let you two have fun hitting each other. Maybe then..." She paused again and sneezed.

"Salud..." Griffin said and then prodded her to continue. "Maybe then...?"

Cassy's expression darkened, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Maybe then I wouldn't have fallen into the pond. Maybe then my own brother wouldn't have been laughing at me and I wouldn't have gotten angry to push him into that pond AND he wouldn't say stupid things to make me snap at him."

"I am sorry that happened. And I do hope you don't get sick Miss Lambert." Said Griffin sympathetically. "But..."

Hearing him call her Miss Lambert again, Cassy rolled her eyes. It was grating on her nerves. She may be a lambert, but that was what everyone called her step mother. Hearing someone call her that, rubbed her wrong. "Stop calling me that. Just call me Cassy or Caz... I really don't care anymore. Just not Miss Lambert." She shuddered visibly and once again sneezed.

"Santé" Griffin once again replied.

A frown lit her face. How many languages did the man speak? She knew four her self, other than English, but so far Griffin had just told her to have good health in three different languages. Not bothering to mull it over any more, she was about to turn away when a gentle hand was placed on her arm. It was different from any other time anyone had placed their hands on her.

Looking down she noticed Griffin's gloved hand on her arm. A confused look crossed her face and she turned back to face Griffin. "What?" She asked her voice still cold and sarcastic though softer than before. Perhaps because his touch was gentle. Or maybe because he was so close and she couldn't help but find him a curiosity.

He didn't say anything, which made Cassy frown. She was growing sick and tired of him wearing that cursed mask. Mostly because she couldn't see his expressions to gauge what he was thinking. Or at least, that's what she told herself. Not that she was curious what he looked like or anything. "Why don't you take that mask off now...? I'm sure the parties over by now..." Without thinking, Cassy lifted her hand and pulled the cracked mask off of Griffin's face.

Griffin still didn't say anything but just stared at Cassy trying to gauge her reaction towards him. His eyes slowly moved over her face, hoping to catch a glimpse of something. She merely stared back at him her own expression smooth and to his dismay, he couldn't read what she thought of him. "Are you happy now?" He finally asked breaking the silence.

Cassy blinked hearing him and shook her head coming out of her reverie. She was surprised to find him incredibly handsome. He was rugged, despite being clean shaven. His eyes were a sharp cerulean blue, but being this close, she noticed flecks of silver ringing his iris. He had a long scar over his right cheek that started at the edge of his brow and stopped just shy of his lips. It was a faded silver as if it had happened a long time ago. She couldn't help but stare making sure she kept her expression smooth. She wasn't about to show him any sort of reaction, not if she could help it. His words then jogged her out of her trance. "Sure..." She said coldly, her voice trailing off and again turned to move away.

Once again Griffin placed his hand on her arm gently and when she paused to look up at him he leaned down and kissed her on impulse. He couldn't help it. He had wanted to do that when he had seen her in the gazebo, but had stopped himself. Now he couldn't hold it back any longer. He had to kiss her, wanted to kiss her, and he only hoped he wouldn't regret it later on.