Rex ca over the low stone wall from the n’s side without them knowing. He crossed the flagstone, and stepped down into the water beside her.
Nerith’s eyes opened imdiately, and all her leaves unfurled.
Nerith quickly subrged herself until the water reached her neck. ’R-Rex...!’ she exclaid.
She looked at him, and for a mont she didn’t say anything, and the first thing that moved through her expression was not the resistance he expected. It was sothing quieter than that.
But of course... she manages to stop what she was doing, but it’s already too late because Rex can clearly see her expression and movent, indicating that she was doing it for the first ti alone. The dream didn’t affect her, but she did by fantasizing about it to turn that dream into a good thing.
She starts to think if Rex did see it or not, but of course she can’t just say it out loud. Now all she has to do is act normally by coming up with so good topic before Rex says the word.
"Don’t mind if I do..." Rex said. "They said that bath water from a druid can bring so good natural energy to boost up your magic, huh?"
"T-That’s true... b-but...!"
Rex settled into the water at her left side, arms along the pool’s stone edge, and looked at the steam rising from the surface as if he had simply decided this was where he was going to be and found the decision entirely comfortable.
"Y-you’re not allowed to be here," she said, very quietly. "This is not a mixed bath."
"It’s fine as long as I don’t intend to do anything to you," he said, without looking at her. "Let’s say this is also part of my duty to protect your life like before."
’H-He’s bringing that up again...’
From the other side of the bamboo, Apollo’s voice carried through easily, still talking to Alexander, still entirely unaware.
’They’re still there, b-but why is Rex here...?!’ Nerith thought. ’Oh mother nature... I’m so wet right now... and I can’t do it by myself if he’s here...’
Nerith glanced at the bamboo screen, then at the water, and finally at Rex’s silhouette bathed in the soft glow of the spring light.
"You’re... doing that on purpose," she said.
"Doing what?"
"Acting like this is a completely normal thing to do."
"Is it not?" Rex said.
She pressed her lips together and looked at the water again. The leaves in her hair were doing their slow amber wave, the one that appeared when she was feeling sothing she hadn’t prepared for.
She was quiet for long enough that the steam had ti to do sothing to the tension in her shoulders. And then she takes a deep breath.
’Focus, Nerith... I can just talk about sothing else to ignore all of these weird feelings, maybe start by thanking him for what he did.’
"Listen..."
"Hm?"
"I wanted to say sothing earlier," she said finally. "It was after you saved before I fell into the gorge..."
Rex waited.
"You were already moving before I fell over," she said. "I keep thinking about that."
"You already ntioned that earlier," Rex said.
"I know." She turned slightly toward him.
"I’m saying it again because I don’t think I said the actual thing I ant to say." Her hands were resting on the stone edge of the pool, the scrapes from the listone visible even in the low light. "I was convinced of sothing about you today... and I had a very complete picture of it."
Rex looked at her.
"And then you were right there," she said. "Four seconds early... not because I scread for your help, and not because anyone told you to save ."
"It’s just... because you already knew it was going to happen and you were already there..."
She looked at the water.
"That doesn’t fit in the picture," she said.
"Maybe the picture needed a gap," Rex said.
Nerith looked at him sideways. "Is that the version of this where you tell I was wrong about you?"
"No," Rex said. "I’m not telling you anything."
"I’m just saying that one picture of one person is usually not the whole person."
She was quiet for a mont. "That could an... a lot of things."
"It could," Rex said.
"You’re not going to help figure out which one."
"I’m sitting in a hot spring next to you," Rex said. "I think that’s help enough for tonight."
Nerith looked at him for a mont, and then she did the thing she had done at the waterfall when Apollo said sothing she hadn’t expected, that small, involuntary almost-laugh that existed in the direction of warmth without quite being there.
"I wanted to say thank you," she said. "That’s what I actually ant to say..."
"At the bridge... just that."
Rex looked at her with the calm that she had described to Apollo as feeling like old growth and said, "You’re welco."
The response was simple, devoid of any weight or nuance.
The leaves settled into their slow gold wave, the color they turned when the channel had registered sothing it was still deciding how to categorize.
From the other side of the bamboo, Alexander asked Apollo sothing about tomorrow’s descent, and Apollo shifted his attention to answer it, and Nerith turned slightly back toward the water, and Rex stayed where he was, and the spring was warm, and the steam rose, and neither of them said anything else for a while.
’Yeah... second chance...’
’And I think my gratitude isn’t enough from just a thank you...’
’I’m going to play a dangerous ga here... but still... I need to feel it myself.’ Nerith thought while rubbing her thighs. ’Yeah... that’s it... my gratitude that just ant more than a word.’
’I’ll give it to him...’
[Nerith Sylvarune — Desire Level: 85/100 → 90/100]
’Oh...?’ Rex noticed the raise, and he was so close to making Nerith beco his completely until she was going to be all devoted towards him without having to care what he just did.
’This is actually perfect... since she’s feeling horny and doesn’t know about it... I’ll just have to wait until she’s the one who made the move because..." Rex glanced to their right, where a bamboo screen stood about two ters away.
Through it, Apollo’s voice was talking to Alexander about sothing that happened during the bridge engagent that he found technically interesting. It was in a casual post-mission tone that made it clear that he had no idea what was going on on the other side of the screen.
Nerith stared at the bamboo screen. Then she turned back to the water.
Rex looked at the leaves. They weren’t reacting with fear or distress, which he thought was interesting.
The amber caught the evening light that had been filtered through steam in a way that made the color feel warm. The waves moved slowly and unevenly.
He had seen this move before, when Nerith had been talking about a certain old-growth forest she had studied during her druidic training early on in their relationship. The leaves reacted in a way they did not intend, responding to what they perceived as important.
He reached over and found her right hand under the water. The heat made her fingers relax, so he gently pressed his thumb into the base of her palm.
’At the end... I can’t fucking hold myself because I want to fuck her here, right next to that fucking bum.’
"Ahh...!" Nerith stood very still. "R-Rex..."
"Just breathe normally," Rex said, still looking at the steam. "He can hear you if you make that much noise."
"But this is..."
A pause followed, and she took a slow breath in and out, her technique making it almost believable.
"Nerith?" Apollo’s voice ca from the other side of the bamboo. It was calm and relaxed. "Are you one hundred percent sure that you’re okay over there?"
"I’m starting to feel all worried now... but still, I won’t check on you, not until you’re fully dressed."
Nerith glanced at Rex. He regarded her with mild, patient encouragent, his thumb gently tracing circles on the center of her palm.
"I... I’m okay," she said, though Rex expected her voice to be more shaky. "The hot water is helping."
"Today was a lot, so please don’t co here..."
"W-What?!" Apollo blushed. "O-Of course I won’t do that...!"
"Good..." Nerith looked at Rex. "Hey... I don’t have any flowers with to be more thankful than I am right now..."
"S-So... why don’t you receive the other flower... which is ...?" Nerith starts breathing hard when she says it, and she can’t endure it much longer.
"By that... you an...?"
"I’m the flower... you can... feel it all you want... just for today..."
Rex realizes that the desire for a woman has finally overtaken Nerith. She can feel the heat radiating from her naked body, and she can no longer lie to herself.
She wants Rex because the bad dream has transford into the dream where she desires him right now.
’Yeah... the manipulation tricks worked.’ Rex tries to hold a laugh. ’Another win from ...’
’And I think I should give her sothing she deserves for how patient she was with .’
"So, Nerith," said Apollo with a soft laugh. "Elizabeth wants us to get up at dawn."
"Sothing about picking up a new carriage." A pause. "You should get a good night’s sleep."
"Yes, I plan to," Nerith said.
"Just leave her alone, man... she needs a ti to herself." Alexander said. "All woman needs that."
"Yeah... I think you’re right."
"Just leave her alone, man... she needs a ti to herself," Alexander said. "All won need that, you know."
"Yeah... I think you’re right."
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