Hot Night, Cold Shower

It was a hot summer night in the Smurf Village. It was so hot that Polaris Psyche couldn't get any sleep, as he was sweating so much he had to strip down to his loincloth in order to get any comfort. Finally, in the middle of the night, he had to get up out of his bed and put on a bathrobe so he could walk around the village and hope that he would be able to fall asleep. He sensed that his friend Empath Smurf was not in his bedroom, so he must also not have been able to sleep that night.

Polaris stepped out of Empath's house and looked up at the night sky. He could only wish that there would be rain or at least a cool wind to make things more bearable during the hot days of summer. He started to walk around and sensed that his fellow Smurfs were also dealing with the same hot temperature in their own ways.

Just then, Polaris walked into a Smurf patrolling the village as a night watchman. "Halt! Who smurfs here?" the Smurf asked.

"It is only Polaris Psyche, who is simply talking a walk around the village in order to be able to return to his sleep," Polaris answered.

"If you're looking for Empath, he just left the village some time ago to smurf over to the waterfalls in the forest," the Smurf reported.

"Then this one will head in that direction to find him," Polaris said. "This one appreciates your report."

"Just be careful smurfing out into the forest at night, Polaris," the Smurf warned.

Polaris nodded and so headed out into the forest in the direction of the waterfalls. He wondered why Empath would be so daring as to go off into the forest at night just to be at that location.

He soon found Empath at the waterfalls, who was resting right under the falls itself. Polaris sensed how comfortable Empath felt soaking himself with a constant shower of water in his sleep.

Suddenly Empath awakened. "Salutations, fellow Polaris," he said quietly as he swam toward the shore to greet his friend.

"Salutations, fellow Empath," Polaris said. "This one came out here because this one was curious as to what you were doing at the waterfalls."

"Seems like this smurf isn't the only one who isn't able to sleep," Empath said. "Well, this looked like the ideal place for this smurf to cool off in and also to get away from the noise in the village, so this is where this smurf went."

"That does explain the lack of your presence in the village, Empath," Polaris said.

"This smurf senses that you might need some 'cooling off', Polaris," Empath said. "Why don't you join this smurf and we can both rest here together?"

"This smurf isn't sure that would be a good idea, Empath," Polaris said, sounding uncertain.

"Nobody else is going to see you, Polaris," Empath said. "It's just you and this smurf together. We have this place all to ourselves."

Polaris sighed. He took off his bathrobe and jumped into the water. "This water is indeed cold and refreshing near the waterfalls, Empath."

"It's this smurf's favorite place to take a shower, Polaris," Empath said. "This smurf just loves how the cold water feels to make this smurf feel all nice and refreshed. There's nothing in Psychelia that's quite like it."

"Indeed there isn't," Polaris said. They both swam right by the rocks near the waterfalls and let the constant spray of water soak them.

"Aaaaaah...just the way this smurf likes it," Empath said, smiling. "You should try standing out in the rain with just your shorts on."

"This one is not interested in exposing this one's self to anyone this one is not intimate with, Empath," Polaris said.

"That's a shame, Polaris," Empath said. "This smurf finds that so relaxing after a spell of hot weather. Even Smurfette likes to do that wearing her swimsuit."

"It's interesting that you Smurfs find so much comfort wearing very little clothes, including Nudie Smurf, whose preference is to go about the village naked," Polaris said.

"Some Smurfs tend to get overboard in finding their comfort, Polaris," Empath said. "But that's part of what makes us Smurfs. It is like we were just made to dress very lightly and still behave the way that we do around each other."

"And yet this one feels that this one is made to be ashamed of this one's own appearance, Empath," Polaris said.

"There's nothing wrong with the way that you look...for the race that you are born as, Polaris," Empath said.

"You're not meaning to say that you're...attracted to this one?" Polaris asked, with a hint of distaste.

"Of course not, Polaris," Empath said. "There's nothing wrong in taking a little pride in how you look, because that's how beings like Smurfs get to care for themselves, by loving parts of themselves that they find personally attractive."

"This one just doesn't see himself in any way as being...attractive," Polaris said.

"Some beings might find how you conduct yourself as being attractive, Polaris," Empath said. "You never know what others are really looking for in a mate."

"This one will leave that discussion for another time, Empath," Polaris said.

"Fair enough, then," Empath said. "We might as well just rest here until morning."