Chương 6: Spa Day

They walked down the hallway for quite a distance, passing several other private bathing rooms. Each one was marked with a different creature, starting with simple animals like rabbits and horses. As they went on each creature grew grander, a wolf, an elk, a tiger. The final door, at the end of the hallway, was by far the most ornate, carved with interwoven patterns and painted in bright colors to depict a gryphon atop a mountain ledge, regally overlooking its domain.

Bella pressed the tag Gustav provided against the door and watched with fascination as a small burst of magic arced between the two. The door slowly swung open to reveal an incredibly well apportioned bathing hall, almost akin to a private spa. To one side stood a small changing space with baskets and a rack of fluffy towels and a mirror. On the opposite side a perpetually running waterfall fell steaming from a stone-carved gryphon's beak. Alongside the waterfall were two baskets of soaps.

But the dominating feature was the central bath, so large it might more appropriately be called a pool. Gawking, the pair stood there taking in the humid air of the private space from the hallway, trying to take in the entirety of it for a long second. Gemma ended up being the one to break the silence.

"C'mon Bel. You stink." Bella wrinkled her nose indignantly, thwacking her elf friend on her broad shoulder with the bath entrance tag.

"Do not, you jerk. I always smell good." Gemma leaned in with a sly smirk and buried her nose in the catkin's neck, causing her to stiffen and her skin to burn red. The elf took a big sniff, then hummed as she straightened back up.

"So you do. Still, we need a bath. Let's go." The elf sauntered in, leaving Bella to try to reboot her brain. It took several long moments before she could even begin to structure a protest to the invasion of her personal space, let alone the teasing words. By the time she was functional again Gemma had already slipped into the room, pulled out a towel from the rack, and claimed a basket to put her things in. With a grumbling huff, Bella plodded in and grabbed a basket for herself, then froze anew.

They were going to have to undress in the same room. And bathe together. Heartrate spiking, there was little she could do to tamp down her furious blushing. Bella balled her fists against the hem of her dress and peeked over her shoulder at her friend, who moved with an exaggerated confidence as she unlaced the neck of her blouse. The only sign of Gemma's own embarrassment was the bright glow at the tips of her ears. Bella did her best to keep her gaze to herself as she started to undress herself.

Thankfully, she was distracted by her own efforts. The azure dress came off as easily as it had gone on in the morning but left her skin bare – in her rush this morning to cover herself up, she neglected to put on any kind of undergarments. She dropped the dress into her basket and shucked her boots, throwing them unceremoniously onto the tiled floor and flexing her toes in their newfound freedom. Still stubbornly refusing to look over at her friend, Bella plodded her bare feet over towards the towel rack.

As she reached for one of her own, she found herself distracted by the mirror once more. I didn't get to look too long this morning but… I did a good job making this character, she thought with no small amount of pride. Straight jet black hair fell around her face down to her shoulders, cut in gentle lines to give her a more youthful appearance than her Earth body's twenty seven years. It framed her cherub-like round face, marked with full and rounded cheekbones that plumped up with joy when she smiled.

A short nose dusted with freckles anchored between her eyes, large and energetic in a glacial blue so vivid you could almost see it crackling with arctic energy, pierced with pupils in the iconic cat slit shape. But most of that could be found in a person back home. What really caught her attention were the ears peeking out from the top of her head. Even though they were ostensibly hers she hadn't yet gotten used to the sight of them.

They stood like small onyx pyramids of skin and fur with snow white tufts that protected their insides, and parted the band of her hair. The ears swiveled like radar dishes to catch sounds that she'd normally be completely unable to discern, reacting without her conscious input in a way that she felt mostly unable to control. She reached up slowly to brush that soft fur and shivered with delight at the sensation of comfort and warmth it spread into her skull. Maybe I can ask Gemma to pet me later. Haha, as if…

Her cheeks colored faintly and she shook her head to dismiss the thought, letting her gaze drop back down. Slender shoulders with the faintest hint of underlying muscle carried her an eager posture, leading to delicate arms that looked better suited to scholarly work than adventuring. And yet with my stats, I could probably punch down a tree, she thought with an amused grin. She flexed her hand and watched her knuckles tense, then uncurled.

There were no glowing screen with numbers to tell her strength, but somehow she knew instinctively that she was strong - stronger than anyone she'd encountered other than Gemma. And that wasn't even counting her encyclopedic knowledge of destructive spells. A faint sigh slipped out as she looked back at her hands. And not a single spell to paint my nails. It'd been years since she'd had bare nails; keeping them decorated was an easy way to openly flaunt the femininity she felt her Earthly body had lacked.

Maybe I can keep them bare now, she thought to herself with a quiet laugh, letting those hands slide to her chest. Full and round, shapely in the way video game designers insisted was normal but real life disagreed about, the same ghostly white as the rest of her skin but capped with peaks of rose petal pink. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. She forced hands to slide lower before she could get distracted from her inspection.

Her waist tapered into a slight hourglass before filling out into curvy hips that definitely don't lie. At the back of her spine jutted out her tail, which she flicked into her waiting hand. It was soft as silk on the outside, that same onyx fur as her ears, with a white band ringing the tapered tip. It seemed that with enough focus she could command it to move as desired, but it largely reacted in response to her emotions.

Bella spent a few moments fussing over the moderately prehensile appendage before pulling her attention back to her self discovery. Well. Some of her self discovery. Some of it should wait 'til later, she blushed, leaning back into her hips to look at her legs and not what stood between. Her thighs and calves were toned, not with the power of an athlete but the quiet diligence of someone who had walked long and far for most of their life.

They held an underlying strength similar to that of her arms – not visible but present, latent, waiting to burst into action. Bella sighed and shook her head.

"It's a shame we can't just unequip and equip things like in the game," she muttered to Gemma, tugging on her towel and tucking it into itself to keep it tight around her form. As she turned to face the other woman she was just fast enough to catch the elf's gaze on her and the sudden panic in her eyes at being caught watching her inspection. The catkin flushed just as deep as her friend and her gaze dropped to the floor, assuring herself it was nothing.

"Y-yeah," the paladin coughed, brushing her own towel of imaginary dust.

"Let's get to the washing. We don't have all day." Her voice came brusque, and her steps rushed her towards the waterfall 'shower' in a hurry to put the moment behind her. Bella trailed behind her, trying to push back down the heart hammering in her throat. The effort was futile, ruined as soon as Gemma dropped her towel and stepped into the stream of water.

Bella found herself rooted in place, eyes wide as she took in the sight of her friend untangling the braid in her bright blonde hair, glimmering gold even under the weight of the shower. Unbraided, the wavy locks hung easily to her rear and only partially hid the strength of her back and her massive shoulders. She was powerful with natural lean muscle, and Bella found beauty in even the knotted scars that stood white against her olive-tanned skin and crisscrossed her body.

Every other inch of her was just as athletic. As Gemma turned under the shower of water Bella's eyes drifted over her friend's chest – not as bountiful as her own, just enough to pillow in one's hands. As if that'd ever happen. She shook her head and tried to chase away any inappropriate thoughts, but the effort was fruitless as her gaze bounced off the elf's well-toned abs and to thighs thick enough they could burst a watermelon.

Unlike her own hidden strength, the elf looked every bit the proud warrior she was supposed to be. Bella forced her gaze up before she started drooling. And mostly succeeded. Instead, her eyes landed on those movie-perfect elfin ears. Said ears quivered slightly under the catkin's gaze, so red hot they were nearly steaming under the water. Fine lines to a soft point, just over three inches long, and Bella wondered if they were as sensitive as her own cat ears were. Not that she thought Gemma would let her find out.

Shining emerald eyes that belonged as the centerpiece to a dragon's horde caught her attention, set into a delicately angled face as fine as a Grecian goddess statue. Gemma stepped out from under the water and met Bella's gaze, standing flushed and stiff. But she didn't say anything until Bella had completed the same thorough inspection of her. A gaze for a gaze, one might say. After a moment longer under scrutiny, she chided the catkin back into motion.

"Are you going to just stand there or are you going to help wash my hair?"

"Mrrrp!" Is this something friends actually do? Bella had never had an opportunity to bathe with girls growing up to know if that was something that truly happened, or if it was just something anime writers liked to fantasize about.

"You really are leaning into the whole cat thing, huh? You never sounded like that when we were gaming."

"I can't help it. Just keeps happening," she mumbled sullenly, lower lip stuck out in a pout. She stepped forward and positioned herself behind the other woman, carefully collecting those golden locks and doing her utmost to avoid touching bare wet skin. The effort was ultimately futile. Her knuckles brushed softly against Gemma's shoulders, and both of them froze for half a second before just… ignoring their drumming heartbeats and pretending it hadn't happened.

Bella carefully ensured that all of her friend's hair was wet through before she leaned over and grabbed one of the soaps from the basket beside the shower-waterfall. Lathering it to a thick cloud of suds in her hands, she paused again. The moment stretched out before she managed to gather the courage to weave her fingers through those rays of sunshine and work the tips into Gemma's scalp in a gently scrubbing massage. The effect was immediate.

Broad shoulders slumped and a low rolling groan slipped from the elf's lips." Ohhhhhhhhhh. I haven't had anyone wash my hair for me in ages. That feels amazing, Bel."

"G-good," the catkin stammered softly, biting her lip as she rolled her fingers across her friend's scalp. She even worked around the base of those long ears but never worked up the courage to touch along their length. A few shuddering groans later and Bella withdrew her hands to lather up once more, applying a small amount of soap down the length of her friend's tresses. She was careful to pull the hair away from Gemma's tanned skin starting at her neck so she wouldn't accidentally touch anywhere else.

Once she was done, Bella helped rinse out Gemma's hair before she doused herself under the stream of water. It was no cold, sobering shower, but it helped ground her enough that she could focus on washing herself. At least, until she felt hands on her own head. Freezing in place, she let out a little whimper as Gemma returned the hair washing favor. Thankfully, she had significantly less hair and the process was reciprocated much more quickly.

The two stepped out of the waterfall cherry red from head to toe, and not just from the heat.

"Help me with my hair before we get in?" Bella nodded and grabbed a fresh towel from the nearby rack, working her way through Gemma's hair slowly and methodically to ensure it was as dry as possible despite the humidity in the air. Then she pulled a comb from her storage and teased it in between those aureate strands of hair. With an exceptionally gentle touch she worked out any knots and tangles, then wove it into a very simple braid and tucked it into a simple tie to keep it from falling down.

Finally, they both managed to enter the bath, to a chorus of blissful sighs.