Page 41 of The Demon's Delight
As I gathered our mutual dirty laundry, he dashed around and gathered wood for the fire. I tested the temperatures of the pools, finding the one he’d chosen far too close to scalding for my liking. The one next to it, however, felt perfect.
“We’ll wash everything, yes? We can string it up to dry while we eat, after.” He looked around thoughtfully, hands on his hips as he evaluated the potential of the rocks as laundry racks.
“What will we wear?” I asked, blushing as I pictured the pair of us sitting around in just our skins.
“The towels, I suppose. Cloaks?” He squinted as he considered this option. “No, they’d be terrible against even damp skin.” His hands and tail stayed busy as he carted our laundry to the small walkway between the pools, plus the towels and the soap. When he stripped off his shirt without warning I turned around and started walking toward the trees.
“I’m going to see if there are any shampoo plants growing here. For our hair.”
“Don’t go too far.”
I was deep in the shade of the trees when I heard the telltale splash of water. Had he really been about to strip right there in front of me? My mind spun through several scenarios as I hunted among the low-growing foliage for the broad-leafed plant I’d come looking for. As far as I knew, that plant didn’t grow unless it was intentionally nurtured in a greenhouse with constant high heat and humidity, but perhaps I’d get lucky outside the cool climate of Ravenglen.
After several minutes of searching, I abandoned the search. However, I noted that there were brambles and berries growing all over the place, and we would do well to come back here to collect berries.
I paused, watching from the shadows of the trees. Seir’s back muscles knotted and rolled as he scrubbed the soap between his hands. He was indisputably beautiful. There was not a muscle underdeveloped on his lean body. Even from a distance, I could make out what seemed like infinite white scars standing out in relief on his bronzed skin. Freckles were also generously sprinkled along his shoulders like they were across his nose and cheeks. The two contrasting colors looked like a galaxy of dueling stars spread across his skin. I wondered how exactly a demon developed freckles in a place where there was no sunshine, my thoughts less and less linear the longer I stared. In that moment, Seir turned enough that I could have been spotted, had he looked closer. My heart pounded, but I still didn’t step out into the sunshine.
My eyes caught next on his mysterious tattoos. The odd greenish lettering ran across his back at the top of his shoulders and continued all along his front just under his collarbone and down his breastbone. I squinted as though that would help mesee them better, startling when he glanced my direction again, a concerned look on his face.
I flushed with heat, heart thudding heavily in my chest. I turned to the side and blinked several times, realizing my hand had strayed to my breast. Guilt and shame pressed in. I was not a voyeur, but here I was, spying on him. After a moment, I turned back again, unable to stop myself.
A bird flapped right above me, making Seir spin to look a third time. I had enough presence of mind to step out of the trees, making it appear as though the bird had fled because of me.
Seir caught my eye and smiled broadly as I came ever closer to the pools. “Any luck?”
“No.” I shook my head hard and stepped near the pool, purposely avoiding looking into the water where he was standing. “Plenty of berries, though. For later.”
Boldly unashamed where I was self-conscious, Seir spread his arms out wide, leaning back slightly in the water. “That’s alright, the soap isn’t so bad. Isn’t this wonderful?”
Face hot, a faint pulse between my thighs, I forced my hands to start working on undoing the ties on my clothing. “I can’t wait to soak. Could you…”
He scanned me, then turned away. “Oh. Of course.”
I quickly shucked my clothing and stepped down into the spring. My assessment had been right; this one was perfect for me. At the edge where I entered, I was covered up to my ribs. If I moved to the side a bit, there was a seat or shelf of some kind in the stone, low enough that if I sat, I was submerged all the way to my chin. If I ventured further in, I could stand and be covered to my shoulders. I walked around until I found the deepest part, going all the way under for a moment so my hair would get wet.
Seir pulled the pile of laundry close, dipping them in the hot water, then scrubbing in the same soap we were using on ourselves.
“I can do mine,” I protested as he pulled mine over too.
“Nonsense. I’m already working on it. Just relax.” He cracked the little cake of soap into two pieces. He kept the small one for himself and gently tossed the other part to me. His eyes never left the garments, his movements methodical and well-practiced.
“Do you enjoy doing laundry, then?” I asked, standing deep enough my chest was covered, working some of the lather over my arms.
His smile appeared, but still, he didn’t look up. “Not particularly, but I’m very good at it. It was my assigned duty for nearly a hundred years in my old unit.”
I froze. “A hundred years?”
His eyes lifted. “Yes. The alternative was latrines. I’ll take dirty clothes over toilets any day.” He finally focused on me, and his expression changed. The gold in his eyes seemed to glow, and his gaze dipped before darting back to my face. “I’ll…” He gestured vaguely, then moved the sopping clothing from the rock path between our pools to the one on the opposite side, so he was no longer facing me.
I turned, too, for whatever good that would do. I moved to a shallower part of the pool and scrubbed myself from the top down, motivated to get the layer of dirt and grime that had accumulated the last several days off my skin. Things only got truly revealing when I raised my legs out one at a time to wash them down. Glancing over my shoulder, I could see his back tensing and relaxing as he worked.
I washed and rinsed my hair three separate times. The uneven length left from the number of clumps removed forsamples bothered me. Once, it had been a source of pride. Long, soft. Well kept. Now it was an ugly distraction.
Lost in thought as I combed through the knots with my fingers, I stared off at the trees, trying to picture myself the way I’d been before I was taken. I was most certainly smaller now, thanks to the lack of care and feeding Ignus and his lot had provided. My hair was dry and uneven, the same with my skin. My hands traveled from one end of my body to the other, assessing, measuring. I was whole, but I was changed.
“I’m getting out,” Seir’s quiet voice warned, breaking me out of my reverie. I sank into the water up to my throat.
His bare feet tapped across the stones as he carried the clothing past me to the colder pools. Towel knotted around his lean waist, he squatted down and proceeded to rinse, scrub and smack the garments until their cleanliness met his satisfaction. Again, I watched him, fascinated by how his tail accompanied his hands in the labor with no visible effort or thought… and also how it no longer seemed strange to me.
