Just A Bath

Splash…

"Ah…" I moaned.

I took back everything I'd grumbled over the bathroom being too large. So what if it took up half the second floor's space? Sinking into the hot tub of a bath that could comfortably fit ten people made my forced slavery almost feel like it was worth it just to experience this.

Almost…

I closed my eyes and silently sunk until only the upper half of my face, from the nose up, was out of the pleasantly scalding water.

Thud.

Long after my skin had wrinkled from having been completely saturated with water, I heard the door to the bathroom open and as time passed, I could hear Alex shuffling around as he took his clothes off a couple of meters away from me. I ignored his presence and continued to bask in the glory that was this perfect bath. Nothing else mattered.

Shhh…

Alex didn't say a word as he started up the shower. Since he spoke English, I imagined he was probably not too comfortable in a bathhouse setting. I wasn't sure about the Brits, but Americans I knew for a fact were rather prudish when it came to shared bathing or showering.

I remember I once went to Japan… for some reason, and all the Americans that were part of my group of friends — maybe colleagues or school peers? I can't remember — outright refused to go into a public bathhouse even though I'm pretty sure the group I was with had planned on going precisely for the novel experiences.

Personally, I didn't particularly care if you were naked or not before me. Men, women, elders, children… What difference did it make when you were there simply to clean yourself up? If you just kept to yourself and didn't act like a creep, there shouldn't have been anything inherently immoral or embarrassing about bathing with another person or a group of people.

Creak…

Oh? There went out the shower. I guess that means Alex was finished. He'd probably just towel himself off and leave now—

Splash…

—Or join me in the bath. Sure, that was an option too, I guess…

After around ten minutes passed, I sighed as I stood up and let the water clinging to my body drain back down to the tub. "I better go to one of the beds before I fall asleep in he—"

I opened my eyes and paused.

I looked into Alex's blue eyes, wet hair, and slightly flushed face before noticing that he had apparently been a "she" this entire time.

It was kind of hard not to notice now that she was out of the baggy hoodie and sweatpants she come into this world wearing. She wasn't exactly the picture of femininity, but even with most of her body submerged in water, I could see that her frame and fat distribution were more female than male.

"You know, all this time I thought you were a guy," I laughed as I stepped out of the bath and started toweling myself dry. "Don't blame me, though. I mean, Alex is a unisex name and you've been covering up your body this entire time. Your behavior honestly should have clued me in sooner, but I didn't want to presume, so…"

"It's fine," Alex said, the way she smiled was filled with sadness. "All my life, I've never really been treated like a girl. So, you could say that I'm used to it."

"For you to remember that… I can imagine how normalized that was in your past life," I frowned. It was honestly a bit concerning if her memories were anywhere near as blurred as mine.

"To be honest… I'm kind of glad I'm past it. These past two weeks… After coming to this world and becoming a slave with you… I can't remember a time I've been happier. Or, at least, not felt scared to make any little move…"

Wow, just scream at the top of your lungs that you were abused; it's the only way you can make it any more obvious.

I threw my towel over my shoulder but stopped just as I was about to step out of the showering area, "So far you've been nothing but a joy to work with. You take my suggestions, work as hard as I do, cook our food, and you haven't really complained unless it was warranted. As long as you keep what you've been doing, I can promise that I'll treat you well."

"Ok…" I caught of glimpse of Alex fully submerging in the bath before I hung my towel and began to change back into my clothes.

Of course, before I put them back on…

[Title: Botany Incarnate effect triggered.]

[New Skill Alert!

Name: Plant Magic: Fabric Reconstruction

Grade: F

Description: So long as a targeted piece of fabric is made of 50%, or higher plant-based material, this Skill rearranges the molecular structure of the entire fabric construct to return it back to it's original state.]

"Hell yeah," I pumped my fist in mock celebration.

Now, I not only had a way to easily clean clothes, but the Skill could effectively repair qualifying materials if they were ever damaged. It was a two-for-one possibly broken Skill depending on how much more ridiculous it could get if I managed to bring its Grade Up.

Refreshing my clothes only took a few seconds and left them pleasantly warm and smelling like flowers; like I'd just taken them out of a modern washing (drying) machine.

I spotted Alex's clothes and… If this had been fifteen minutes prior I wouldn't have had any qualms about applying the same treatment to her clothes. Now, though, I felt the need to at least ask if she was comfortable with letting me handle her clothes. I'd rather she not misunderstand something and change the way she looked at me.

Of course, when I asked, she just shrugged without batting an eye. She didn't care what I did so long as it didn't end up ruining her only set of clothes. So, with a slightly wounded ego — like, did she really have to doubt me like that? — I refreshed her clothes and left them neatly folded up where she had previously piled them haphazardly.

I went to the "bedroom," picked the closest of the several queen-sized beds to the door, and fell asleep less than a minute later.