Chapter 15
Getting to take a shower by myself the next morning was a treat, but it required explaining to Inkiri that, first, I really wanted it, and second, it was a normal, human thing to shower by yourself and not hop straight into the tub after.
His expectation was that I’d want company, and apparently, showering wasn’t a thing for bagua. It was either washing and soaking or just washing. Standing under the shower, Inkiri said, was like standing in the rain, and he didn’t see the appeal.
I got halfway through my shower and had just rinsed my hair clean when Fellisse sauntered into the bathroom, already buck naked.
I may have screamed a little.
“Hush, Rory, it’s fine,” the biggest of the bagua bunch said. And came over. Buck-ass naked. With everything on display. A sizable display in dark teal blue.
“What’s wrong in here?” asked Nokim, who came in next, also naked. “Is the water too cold?”
That was how I ended up flanked by two naked guys who were trying to figure out whether my not-so-sizable display was caused by cold water.
I moved to cup my cock before I remembered they might take that the wrong way. “I’m fine. Just didn’t think you’d walk in on me while I was having a shower.”
Nokim beamed. “Oh, but we’re happy to keep you company.”
Fellisse grumble-hissed. “I doubt Inki would appreciate that. Did you send him away, Rory? Did he do something wrong?”
I groaned. “I just wanted a shower, okay? Gosh, I know this is Europe and everything, but I’m fine, okay? Inkiri did nothing wrong. Will you leave the temperature alone, Nokim? Give me two minutes and I’ll be done here.”
Nokim left the temperature setting alone, and the two big monsters looked back and forth from me to each other. Which was when Lissir came in as well, though thankfully, he was dressed.
“What is going on in here? Rory, why were you screaming? And what are you two doing?” Lissir’s accent was coming out stronger.
“I’m just taking a shower.” I gestured at the water. “Sorry, it’s a human thing. You surprised me, is all. Humans usually shower alone, but it’s fine. I’m almost finished.”
That seemed to give them all pause, and Nokim and Fellisse did in fact step back. Although they still watched me. Showering. While they were naked. At least I could say for certain that it didn’t arouse them.
When I turned the shower off, Nokim handed me a towel, and I quickly wrapped myself in that.
“Thanks.”
“I still can’t believe you’re not hangu.” Nokim pointed at my chest.
I rolled my eyes. “You did just see my cock, right?”
Fellisse chuckled. “Hangua have cocks, sweet Rory.”
My jaw dropped. “Huh? But you said…they had, you know? A uterus?” Here I was, a white dude fixated on uteri as if I had one. Hopefully, they wouldn’t hold this against me later. The woeful creature the apocalypse had made of me.
“Both,” all of them said together.
I nodded. “Well, that’s interesting, isn’t it? Love me a good anatomy lesson.”
Nokim bounced up and down on the balls of his paw feet. “That’s such a good idea! I have been meaning to look for a book on anatomy ever since you came to us!”
Fellisse nodded along. “Yes. I’ve been meaning to learn more of the medicine. Between you, Rory, Vergis, and myself, it might be doable.”
I walked toward the door, where Lissir stood as if he were waiting for me. “Sure. You guys and me and creepy Vergis playing Operation. All for it.”
Fellisse tilted his head just as I headed out the door, a towel slung around my middle. “I hope the need for an operation doesn’t arise.”
Before I could heartily agree with that, Lissir closed the bathroom door and walked with me.
“They’re beginning to think very fondly of you, but their attention doesn’t come with expectations,” Lissir said when we walked past their armory.
I glanced at him. “Well, that’s good to know, I guess.”
I wondered what expectations those would be. I hadn’t been here that long, but even I could tell they did relationships differently, what with wrist sniffing being risqué.
“You were joking just now, yes? When you said how you would enjoy an anatomy lesson?” Lissir asked.
I cleared my throat and headed into Inkiri’s room with Lissir still trailing behind me, then I realized I’d left my clothes in the bathroom. Before I could curse myself for that, my gaze fell on a folded bundle on the bed: the clothes I’d stripped out of yesterday. The cat socks were on top.
My throat was suddenly tight with emotion. “Yeah. Sorry, I can be a sarcastic b-word sometimes.” Cat had always called me that, only she used to say “bitch”. I really missed her. I picked up the clothes bundle. They smelled of detergent. “Did Ink wash these for me?”
Lissir clicked. “Fellisse and he ran the laundry yesterday, yes. Or they ran the washing machine. So much smaller than what we have back home. You seem surprised. Do you not enjoy wearing clean clothes?”
I ran a hand over the cat socks. I really loved those socks. “Of course I enjoy it. It’s just…I didn’t expect them to do that.”
Lissir looked around the room and found my friendship bracelet from yesterday.
“Your wrist.” He beckoned for my hand.
I moved the clothes to my other arm and held out my hand for him to take. He put the bracelet on me, pulling the string snug.
“I like you, Rory. You’re not what I expected from some of Vergis’s tales.
And Inkiri…well, mate calls don’t equal sympathy.
They never did, even when they were common.
But he loves you, I think, which means we all want you to be family.
Family helps one another out. Especially when it’s laundry, which is a little thing. Do you understand?”
“I guess?” The religious commune had said stuff about all of us being in this together, except they had phrased it differently. A lot differently. They’d mentioned sin in every other sentence. These guys had just done. “I’ll help out in whatever way I can.”
Lissir tilted his head. “You helped Nokim with his cooking and testing teas and learning more about potatoes. I’m sure all the anatomy and medicine will help too.
Inkiri is right when he says you’re frail though.
” He squeezed my hand like he had before.
“You don’t need to worry about soaking with Fellisse and Nokim.
As I said, you’re family, and they don’t expect anything. ”
I nodded as if I understood what exactly he meant.
This whole entire situation was a bit overwhelming.
I’d been more or less dragged—very gently—into the home of these monsters not two days ago, and yet they’d already adopted me.
Well, not Vergis, who had casually threatened to murder me if I screwed Inkiri over, which was pretty fair, all things considered.
If these guys were Stockholming me, they were doing a damn fine job.
Lissir released my hand with a final squeeze and left me alone to get dressed.
“There’s food downstairs, and maybe you can help me figure out a few of the things I’m missing in my books. I can tell there are jokes in them that I don’t understand.”
“Sure. Caught the manga bug, huh?”
Lissir tilted his head this way and that. “What’s a manga bug?”
“Just a way of saying you got into something, got interested in something, you know? Like Nokim caught the potato pudding bug, you caught the manga bug, and Fellisse caught the café au lait bug.”
Lissir lit up. “Oh! I may have read that phrase before, actually. Inkiri caught the Rory bug. That’s what it means to be cute as a bug. It all makes sense now.”
I looked back at the cat socks on top of my clean, neatly folded clothes. “I guess it does.”