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Page 10 of The Royal’s Bumblebee (Operation Colonise #2)

Join me for a bath

Billie

I stood beneath a warm stream of water pouring down from a water dispenser in the ceiling.

It washed over me as it started to fill the sunken copper bathtub.

I’ve always enjoyed the sensation of running water over my skin.

Whenever something stressful happened to me it felt like little hooks snagged onto my skin with each one attached.

My mind would fixate and recall these moments.

The loudness of people around me.

Physical touches I was not prepared for, nor did I want. The vulnerability of being in a strange new place. Fear and helplessness weighed me down from these invisible hooks.

Hannah taught me when I was little to imagine the water washing away these worries.

To imagine the hooks coming away with the flood and going down the drain.

After everything I’ve been through since coming out of cryosleep, I needed this shower.

I wanted it from the moment I was reanimated.

I needed the comfort of warm water running over my skin.

I smiled and thought of Hannah.

When we were small children we would share a bath together and play with small bath toys.

When I was really upset and withdrew from the world, I regularly escaped into memories like that one.

Bubbles floating on the water’s surface and little rubber ducks bobbing around me.

As we got older we got too big to share the tub and solitary showers became the norm.

I stepped out of the mini guizer coming down from the water dispenser to see the bathtub was filling up and was over halfway already.

“Izule? How do I turn it off?”

I called out after yanking on the cord that started the water running, but that didn’t turn it off. If anything, the water started to pour even faster. “Izule?”

I waded through the water to aim my head up towards the access hole and his private level. “I’m going to flood your home if you don’t—”

With his eyes shut he hung his upper body down through the hole. His hood was flat to his neck and he braced his hands on the ceiling.

“How many times have you tugged on the cord?”

“Twice.”

“A third time should do it.”

He nodded with a smile. He even waited until I pulled it again and the water stopped flowing. “Enjoy your bath.”

He vanished quickly and I lowered to sit in the full swimming pool sized bathtub. It was warm and I relaxed. The memory of bubbles and ducks made me giggle.

I brought my knees up and leisurely cupped water to them, only to slowly part my fingers and watch the water trickle down my legs.

It didn’t travel very far, as the water level was only an inch below my knees. Level with my mid-chest.

“I want to get clean.”

I looked around for any sign of toiletries and saw none. “Izule?”

“Yes Billie?”

“Where is your soap please?”

“I have human toiletries for you. May I…come down?”

“Yes.”

I nodded. That would be easier and I was comfortable. It took a lot for me to be comfortable, so I didn’t want to risk ruining it.

I watched as he slowly hung down from the access hole until his hands touched the floor. Then he guided his bulk down onto his belly first, before slithering around me and the bathtub quickly.

His cowl widened and I stared at the eye like brown circles on either side whilst his hands searched for something on a wooden set of shelves.

“Hair and body wash.”

He retrieved with a victorious noise and turned around to offer it to me. His big smile pursed into a line and he jerked when he locked yellow eyes with my hazel ones. “Oh, I’m sorry. I-I forgot.”

He snapped his eyes shut and I furrowed my brow at him. “You said ladies don’t get naked with strangers.”

“You said you weren’t a stranger.”

I countered. He was right after all. “Can I have that now? I want to wash my hair.”

He flicked his tongue at the air and slithered carefully around the edge of the bath.

He continued to scent at the air, unaware I was watching him with fascination as he tracked his way to me without looking.

With his eyes closed like this I was comfortable staring at his face. There was something different about him. Aside from being a giant Snake man, of course.

He was so big and muscular, but his movements were careful. Controlled. When he reached me he lowered to offer the bottle to me and waited patiently for me to take it without any sign of frustration.

His scaly lips were tugging at the corners into a smile and the end of his tail distracted me by flicking. Like cats do when they are content. “Do Ucfeni bathe together?”

“We do.”

He cleared his throat and continued to wait for me to take the bottle from him.

“Even if they are different genders?”

“Yes.”

I looked around the massive bathtub and hummed. I didn’t mean to fill it, but there was a lot of water here for just me.

I didn’t know the second tug would increase the speed of water flow, but I had filled the bathtub all the same.

Water can’t be easy with their level of technology to store in large quantities this high up, and heat for baths. I looked at him once more and chewed my lips before nodding with my decision.

“You are not a stranger. This water shouldn’t be wasted. Join me for a bath.”

The scales at his neck did that darkening thing again. “Hannah and I used to bathe together. We had bubbles and little ducks to play with. Rubber ones.”

I clarified. I didn’t want him to think I bathed with live animals, after all. Slowly Izule opened his yellow eyes and gulped.

“I thought you said your…vaginal opening is exposed? That’s your slit, isn’t it?”

He handed me the bottle and folded his arms under his large chest. “You wouldn’t feel…uncomfortable if we shared a bath together?”

“You promised not to touch me without my consent, and Ucfeni bathe together even if they are different genders. We shouldn’t waste the water.”

I felt that was answer enough and started to pour the hair wash into my hands. I sniffed the clear liquid and found it had no discernable scent whatsoever. “I like this. It doesn’t smell of anything. I don’t like perfumes.”

I rubbed it into my hair and slowly Izule took hold of the side of his skirt. Curiously I paused my hands to watch him.

At first, he paused his hands and inclined his head, flicking his tongue out of his mouth in my direction. But then he shrugged and released a small circular disk at his hip that caused the skirt to come away.

My eyes widened and I canted my head to one side curiously at what I saw. “Your genitals are stored internally.”

At his groin I could see a bulge and a seam that looked more like a slit than my vagina did.

“This is my pouch. I understand your people call this a cloaca.”

He cleared his throat and waved his hand haphazardly over the seam. “Yes my…penis is internally stored…until needed.”

I nodded and worked the hair wash down to the tips of my hair at my shoulders. That was curious? The bulge seemed to be getting larger? “Why do you ask?”

His voice was deep and smooth as he spoke.

“I like to ask questions when I’m feeling vulnerable. The unknown frightens me.”

“Oh.”

He chuckled nervously and covered his pouch with his hands. His hood flattened as he cleared his throat. “I don’t want you to be frightened. Especially not of me. You can bathe alone without worrying about wasting water Billie. I am a Royal.”

He leaned back on his tail as if to leave.

“I don’t care what you are. I don’t like wasting water.”

I wrapped my arms around my legs and held them. He half-turned away from me. “Did I do something wrong?”

“What? No, why?”

His voice raised in alarm, but he didn’t come back either.

“Because you’re leaving. You were going to get in the bath and now you’re leaving. I said something wrong didn’t I?”

This was why Hannah’s friends always left whenever I was around. I always made them uncomfortable.

It’s why I moved out when I went to college, so she could have friends again. Even if I cried every night for three months before I got used to it. I lowered my forehead to my knees and shut my eyes. “I’m sorry...I want Hannah.”

I whispered and gripped my hands into fists around my legs.

“No, Billie, I’m sorry.”

I heard the sound of water being broken and some splashing around me. “Please don’t cry Billie. I’m here.”

His voice sounded really close. “I’m sorry. I became embarrassed. I don’t mind sharing a bath with you. I don’t mind answering your questions. You haven’t done anything wrong. Please, ask whatever questions you like. Just please don’t cry.”

I didn’t stop just because he asked me to. I don’t work that way. Hannah knew that. Izule doesn’t. He isn’t Hannah and I want- “What’s a duck?”

I sniffled and slowly peered up from behind my knees. Izule’s tail was coiled in only two wide rings and he laid his upper body in the middle of it.

He folded his arms on the top ring, the water just below his chin as he smiled at me.

“You said you used to have baths with Hannah, and there were bubbles and ducks. I know what bubbles are, but not ducks. Rubber or otherwise.”

“It’s a bird.”

I sniffled and wiped my face with warm wet hands. He seemed to lose whatever tension was gripping him as his shoulders sagged with relief. “Does Thelia have birds?”

“Yes. Many.”

I blink and lift my gaze to look at his mouth. He’s smiling. That means he isn’t upset with me. “They are very tasty.”

That’s funny, but it doesn’t translate to my face.

“Are birds a main part of your diet?”

“No, but they make for a nice snack. Why did you say you’d like to see me eat?”

“I think it would be fascinating to watch on a snake your size. What do you mainly eat?”

“Mammals. What do you mainly eat?”

“I like seafood. Crab. Prawns. Fish.”

I giggled and lowered my legs into the water. “I like this. Me and Hannah play the question game to pass the time too. Taking turns to ask things. My turn.”

I opened my mouth to ask if Ucfeni ate fish, when I noticed his yellow eyes staring at my chest. I looked down at my breasts and returned my attention to his face.

His scaly lips were pressed into a line and he was still staring at my chest. “Do Ucfeni females have breasts?”

I waved my hand at my chest area.

“No.”

He shook his head and his hood flattened to his neck. “I understand that like mammals on Thelia, those are for lactating milk for your offspring to feed from?”

“Yes, primarily.”

He nodded slowly. “And for use in sexual stimulation, as a secondary function.”

His eyes widened for some reason. “Do Ucfeni offspring eat meat right away?”

“In a paste form, yes.”

Izule suddenly chuckled into one of his hands and his cowl widened. “Our females get pregnant and lay eggs. Do humans give live birth like our mammals?”

“Yes. One or two at a time. Usually one, but sometimes up to three babies.”

I nodded, comfortable now we were back to asking questions. “How many eggs do Ucfeni lay?”

“A clutch can be as few as two or as many as 10. On average we tend to lay 3. Royals are rare in the fact that we tend to lay one single egg at a time. Other kinds of Ucfeni can lay more. It depends.”

I dropped my eyes when I noticed the end of his tail swaying slowly in the water near my ankles. “Why did you come to Thelia?”