NOVEL WEB Chapter 23: Bath Accident
'So that's how it feels to lead a girl to the bathroom,' I thought, using every means possible to distract myself from the reality of what was happening.
Just like mentioned, I was leading Fay to the small bathroom that this shed came equipped with. It only had the cheapest toilet and the cheapest possible shower, which was already more than my adopted family would be normally willing to spend on me, even if all the costs came from my own money.
But this very minimal level of covering my basic needs was something my vicious aunt never crossed as if worried about potentially giving me the ammunition to use against her in the court case I was bound to one day create against those thieving monsters.
None of that mattered now, though, as I was now given a tall task of explaining not only how the shower worked, but also explaining the use of the toilet.
"Look here, do you see those two knobs?" I pointed Fay towards the hot and cold water knobs attached to the main body of the shower's battery. "If you turn this one to the right, hot water will start flowing out from this handle," I pointed at the showerhead… Only to reach out and grab it.
Just like before, a practical example was likely to serve better for explanation purposes than using just words.
"See? This is the showerhead," I mentioned while pointing it at the insides of the simple shower. I then reached out and turned the knob for the hot water and waited for a second… Only for the water to shoot out from the holes in the showerhead.
"Woah!" Fay, amazed by this new discovery, peeked out from behind my back, clearly interested… but as happy to get in contact with water as your average cat.
"On the other hand, if we turn this knob, cold water will enter the flow," I continued to speak, not really sure whether or not Fay could understand me properly.
She could use a few words… but whenever she used a new one… or even when she spoke using only the words I'd heard her speak before, they were always on the point, directly commenting on the situation or answering my query.
Fay could understand my words with no problem… which suddenly made the slow rate of her learning the words herself quite… baffling?
If she could understand my words, then how speaking them out loud could be any more challenging?
"Peter… Can Fay… Water?" Fay leaned her head over her shoulder in an adorable gesture while hesitantly pointing out her hand at the water.
"Yeah," I nodded my head while taking a step to the side and keeping my arm extended out so that Fay could easily grab the end of the shower battery. "You can adjust how warm you want the water to be by either turning or adjusting how much hot and cold water enters the system."
With my attention on how criminally cute Fay was whenever her eyes flashed with curiosity and excitement, I didn't even realize when my words suddenly turned technical, turned into jargon that anyone from Earth would easily understand… But that should be gibberish for anyone who lacks the proper foundation to understand them.
And regardless of that fact, Fay didn't appear to be confused by those unknown words at all. Or maybe she was too busy playing around with what had to be a magical tool producing water in her eyes?
"Oh right, we came here to clean ourselves, not to play, so give me just a moment," I requested before rushing out of the bathroom and towards the bags I brought back home.
In theory, I had some of the open soaps that I've used myself… But how could I commit the heresy of applying those rough, chemical compounds on Fay's fair skin?
No.
Anticipating that the problem of cleaning up would come sooner or later, I proved my foresight by getting a proper supply of hygiene products from the most luxurious shop I could find within the gang's territory.
In the eyes of an average person it was bound to be just an average shop, but for someone like me, who only ever knew the world of the cheapest produce… Back during the check-out, handing out several bills, each worth over two days of my work at my part-time, I could feel my heart bleed.
The only reason why I didn't mentally bleed out after leaving that shop was the image I created in my head of Fay enjoying her bath. And now, I could finally make it happen… even if I had no intentions of making use of the opportunity to savor the look of her naked body.
No.
This wasn't even something I decided in fear of Fay's massive parent. Right now, this was the rule imposed by simple decency. Because even if Fay didn't mind me watching her wash, I already knew her concepts of intimacy varied greatly from what I was used to.
But that didn't give me any right to exploit her ignorance of the rules existing within human society, not even if the reward of doing so would be more beauty than a sane person could handle!
'Vile thoughts, begone,' I prayed silently as I grabbed the stuff I wanted and rushed back to the bathroom. Yet, by the time I rejoined Fay at the shower…
CLING!
"Peter! Help!"
Right as I pushed the doors open, I heard a metallic cling… followed by the noise of rushing water. For a moment, I felt the resistance offered by the doors increase before I managed to slip inside…
Only to see the showerhead still in Fay's hand… despite her standing in the far-off corner of the shower. And from the showerhead, I could see the spring-like pipe extending down, all the way to where the broken socket marked the part of the battery that failed its saving throw when pitted against Fay's strength.
Turning my head to the side, I quickly noticed the culprit behind Fay's sudden scream.
With the showerhead socket broken off, the water was rushing out of the hole with all the force of the pressure it was under, covering the entire room in thick, watery mist while splashing more and more water on literally everything, me and Fay included.
"Don't worry, it's not a big problem," I quickly reassured, rushing up to the broken faucet and turning the knobs off to cut the water supply. And as I took care of the accident and its fallout, I turned around with the intention of calming Fay even further…
Only to see her standing in her all-wet clothes that lost their shape and now clung tightly to her skin, leaving very little gaps for my imagination to fill.