Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
We reheated the food and ate. I forced Zoe to sit on my lap while we did so. We were both calmer than before, but the idea of that she wanted to leave me behind while putting herself in danger still had me anxious. I didn't even want to let her go an inch away from me.
After we'd eaten, we packed up the leftovers for Dad to heat up later. Then I brought her up to the bathroom connected to my bedroom for a shower.
"It's big enough for us to shower together," I said as I forced myself to let go of her to turn the water to a good temperature.
When I turned back, she looked at the shower with a strange expression that I couldn't place. It was as if she was hesitant but also excited. Maybe a bit apprehensive.
"What's wrong?" I asked and walked over to her.
She shook her head. "I can't remember the last time I washed myself with something other than magic."
She gave a crooked smile, and there was a slight pinkness to her cheek. It took me a moment to process it. Had she really always been so terrified that she wouldn't even let water touch her?
She walked past me, and without taking off her clothes, she went into the shower. The whole bathroom was honestly a bit ridiculously big, almost the same size as my bedroom. The shower took up half of one of the walls and the general color scheme of the bathroom was gray stone. The entry side of the shower had glass doors, so I would have seen her independently, but she didn't close the doors after having gone in. The water came from the ceiling like a rainfall and she closed her eyes and turned her head up to it.
There was something so magically beautiful looking at her. With the gray stone walls, it almost looked as if she stood outside in the rain. She moved a hand to touch her face and then let it move over her hair, seemingly taking in the difference in feeling from when it was wet compared to dry. A smile grew on her lips, and without warning, it became a giggle. She started spinning around in the shower, with her arms out. The skirt of the dress and her hair spun with her.
She stopped, facing me. Some of her hair was stuck across her face because of the water and her eyes shone.
"Don't just stand there," she said and, without a thought of anything else, she skipped over to me and pulled me into the shower. I obliged and stepped into it with her, also fully dressed.
She tiptoed and kissed me on the cheek. "This feels so nice!" she exclaimed. "So refreshing."
I moved the hair from her face. Then backed her towards one of the walls before kissing her and getting a taste of her sweetness again.
"You're making it impossible to concentrate on anything else. You're so beautiful," I told her before kissing her again.
I didn't break the kiss until the need for oxygen forced me to. We were both breathing heavily, and she looked sexier than ever before. Her dress was now so wet that it clung to her body and it had become see-through. But it was her face that captured me the most. The water drops, her flushed cheeks, the life in her eyes. It all made her radiant.
"We... we should probably get undressed," she said and then quickly added. "So we can wash ourselves properly, I mean."
I chuckled at her cute awkwardness and did as she asked. We both got undressed and threw the clothes out of the shower to form a wet, messy pile. I then reached for the shower gel and squeezed some out on to my hand. She reached for the bottle, but I put it back.
"Let me wash you," I answered her confused look.
"I can wash myself," she mumbled.
"I know. But let me."
I started with her arms, and then down her breast while trying to make it as none erotic as possible, though also being unable to resist spending longer time there than needed. Then I went further down and it hit me again how skinny she actually was. I had forgotten it in everything else until my fingers went to clean the skin over her ribs and could feel the bones completely.
It made my heart ache, and it also made me look more carefully at the rest of her. I needed to see what else about her physical well-being that I had been missing. Like the pronounced dark circles under her eyes.
"How are you feeling?" I asked her as I turned her around to wash her back.
"What do you mean? I'm alright. Happy," she answered confused.
"You look tired."
"Oh." She moved a hand up to feel under her eyes. "Just didn't get much sleep last night. Too much going through my head."
"How does that work with magic? Does it take a lot of energy?" I continued probing.
"When you first start to learn, yeah. But you build up your magical stamina with time. Similar to when you train your muscles." She let out a yawn.
"And with different types of magic, like your witchcraft compared to nymph magic. Is it the same type of magical stamina needed?"
"I... I haven't thought about that."
She didn't need to answer for me to know, however. It seemed like she was relaxing more and more by the second and she swayed where she stood. I took a hold on her waist to make sure that she didn't fall and she leaned herself completely back towards me. Her eyes closed, and it looked like she was sleeping.
"I think that's enough showering for now," I told her.
"No..." she mumbled. "Just a bit longer. So warm and nice."
She turned her head and rubbed her cheek to my chest as if she was finding a comfortable spot on a pillow.
"It'll be nicer for you to rest in bed," I pointed out, but she frowned.
"This is comfy."
I kissed her on the forehead before turning off the shower. She immediately started shivering and tried to get closer to me.
"Cold," she muttered.
"It's okay. I'll get you warm soon," I whispered to her before lifting her up and out of the shower.
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