Rex came over the low stone wall from the menâs side without them knowing. He crossed the flagstone, and stepped down into the water beside her.
Nerithâs eyes opened immediately, and all her leaves unfurled.
Nerith quickly submerged herself until the water reached her neck. âR-Rex...!â she exclaimed.
She looked at him, and for a moment she didnât say anything, and the first thing that moved through her expression was not the resistance he expected. It was something quieter than that.
But of course... she manages to stop what she was doing, but itâs already too late because Rex can clearly see her expression and movement, indicating that she was doing it for the first time alone. The dream didnât 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 canât just say it out loud. Now all she has to do is act normally by coming up with some good topic before Rex says the word.
"Donât mind if I do..." Rex said. "They said that bath water from a druid can bring some good natural energy to boost up your magic, huh?"
"T-Thatâs true... b-but...!"
Rex settled into the water at her left side, arms along the poolâs 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-youâre not allowed to be here," she said, very quietly. "This is not a mixed bath."
"Itâs fine as long as I donât intend to do anything to you," he said, without looking at her. "Letâs say this is also part of my duty to protect your life like before."
âH-Heâs bringing that up again...â
From the other side of the bamboo, Apolloâs voice carried through easily, still talking to Alexander, still entirely unaware.
âTheyâre still there, b-but why is Rex here...?!â Nerith thought. âOh mother nature... Iâm so wet right now... and I canât do it by myself if heâs here...â
Nerith glanced at the bamboo screen, then at the water, and finally at Rexâs silhouette bathed in the soft glow of the spring light.
"Youâre... 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 something she hadnât prepared for.
She was quiet for long enough that the steam had time to do something to the tension in her shoulders. And then she takes a deep breath.
âFocus, Nerith... I can just talk about something else to ignore all of these weird feelings, maybe start by thanking him for what he did.â
"Listen..."
"Hm?"
"I wanted to say something earlier," she said finally. "It was after you saved me 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 mentioned that earlier," Rex said.
"I know." She turned slightly toward him.
"Iâm saying it again because I donât think I said the actual thing I meant to say." Her hands were resting on the stone edge of the pool, the scrapes from the limestone visible even in the low light. "I was convinced of something 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 screamed for your help, and not because anyone told you to save me."
"Itâs just... because you already knew it was going to happen and you were already there..."
She looked at the water.
"That doesnât 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 me I was wrong about you?"
"No," Rex said. "Iâm not telling you anything."
"Iâm just saying that one picture of one person is usually not the whole person."
She was quiet for a moment. "That could mean... a lot of things."
"It could," Rex said.
"Youâre not going to help me figure out which one."
"Iâm sitting in a hot spring next to you," Rex said. "I think thatâs help enough for tonight."
Nerith looked at him for a moment, and then she did the thing she had done at the waterfall when Apollo said something she hadnât 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. "Thatâs what I actually meant 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, "Youâre welcome."
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 something it was still deciding how to categorize.
From the other side of the bamboo, Alexander asked Apollo something about tomorrowâs 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.
âYeah... second chance...â
âAnd I think my gratitude isnât enough from just a thank you...â
âIâm going to play a dangerous game here... but still... I need to feel it myself.â Nerith thought while rubbing her thighs. âYeah... thatâs it... my gratitude that just meant more than a word.â
âIâll give it to him...â
[Nerith Sylvarune â Desire Level: 85/100 â 90/100]
âOh...?â Rex noticed the raise, and he was so close to making Nerith become his completely until she was going to be all devoted towards him without having to care what he just did.
âThis is actually perfect... since sheâs feeling horny and doesnât know about it... Iâll just have to wait until sheâs the one who made the move because..." Rex glanced to their right, where a bamboo screen stood about two meters away.
Through it, Apolloâs voice was talking to Alexander about something that happened during the bridge engagement 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 werenât 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.
âAt the end... I canât fucking hold myself because I want to fuck her here, right next to that fucking bum.â
"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?" Apolloâs voice came from the other side of the bamboo. It was calm and relaxed. "Are you one hundred percent sure that youâre okay over there?"
"Iâm starting to feel all worried now... but still, I wonât check on you, not until youâre fully dressed."
Nerith glanced at Rex. He regarded her with mild, patient encouragement, his thumb gently tracing circles on the center of her palm.
"I... Iâm okay," she said, though Rex expected her voice to be more shaky. "The hot water is helping."
"Today was a lot, so please donât come here..."
"W-What?!" Apollo blushed. "O-Of course I wonât do that...!"
"Good..." Nerith looked at Rex. "Hey... I donât have any flowers with me to be more thankful than I am right now..."
"S-So... why donât you receive the other flower... which is me...?" Nerith starts breathing hard when she says it, and she canât endure it much longer.
"By that... you mean...?"
"Iâm 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 transformed into the dream where she desires him right now.
âYeah... the manipulation tricks worked.â Rex tries to hold a laugh. âAnother win from me...â
âAnd I think I should give her something she deserves for how patient she was with me.â
"So, Nerith," said Apollo with a soft laugh. "Elizabeth wants us to get up at dawn."
"Something about picking up a new carriage." A pause. "You should get a good nightâs sleep."
"Yes, I plan to," Nerith said.
"Just leave her alone, man... she needs a time to herself." Alexander said. "All woman needs that."
"Yeah... I think youâre right."
"Just leave her alone, man... she needs a time to herself," Alexander said. "All women need that, you know."
"Yeah... I think youâre right."