The Non-Human Society

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty One - Renn - A Bath.

      Well, I got what I wanted...

The steam from the hot water was still filling the room. It was just thick enough that I hoped Vim couldn't really see the blushing on my face, or where my eyes were wandering.

Granted Vim didn't seem to care at all. He was leaning back, resting against the edge of the bath and staring up at the ceiling. The ceiling tiles were decorated, but not too special... Before those panels he had been staring at the foggy mirror nearby. Ever since we got in he's been staring at everything except me.

I'd be insulted, if not for the fact that I now understood him a little better.

It wasn't that I wasn't attractive to him... it was the simple fact that he didn't want to let himself be so. To admit it.

Such a thing was cute, in its own way.

"We built the rooms with these baths, for those who were a little different. Only for the whole city to change and become human thru and through. Now these baths are only used by those like us," Vim said as he stared upward.

Oh? Was that why these baths were so big? "When you first built this place, were the members here like that?" I asked.

He nodded. "Most of them. Time changes."

Time did change things... but something told me he wouldn't. No matter how hard time tried to change Vim, he'd be the same forever.

I shifted a little, and the splashing noises I made as I did so made me more conscious of myself. My heart thumped a little too loudly, the kind of loudly that I knew Vim could hear. Especially in this room that echoed so well.

Yet still I couldn't help but smile as I fidgeted. I was more submerged than he was. He was leaning against the side of the bath's railing in such a way that most of his upper body was exposed. I on the other hand was doing all I could to scrunch down. My shoulders were just barely above the water's surface... and that was changing quickly. The tub was still filling up. Once it finished, only my head and neck would be exposed.

Not that the water actually hid anything, of course.

"The pipes in this building probably need to be replaced soon," Vim then said.

"The pipes?"

He nodded, and with a flick of the finger he splashed and pointed to one of the spigots pouring out water.

"They're made of a type of copper... so probably will be fine for a few more decades, but I'll definitely need to get on that soon," Vim said with a sigh.

"Copper?" I asked. I couldn't help it, I shifted and crawled and swam over to the pouring water. I didn't touch it, since it was hot, but I did stare at the little spigot. There did seem to be a copper colored pipe hidden within the small designed spigot.

"Copper lasts longer than most other things. But they don't last forever, of course," Vim explained.

"Why not use your steel?" I asked.

"Steel is actually pretty bad for running water. Doesn't last long. Plus it begins to poison the water as it erodes," Vim said.

"Oh?" I glanced at him, and had to look away real quick. He was looking at me finally.

Smiling at myself as I sat back, a little away from the spigot... I felt silly. Why was I embarrassed? Why was I more troubled than he was? It felt kind of good to act so childish. "I thought copper was one of the lesser metals," I said.

Vim sighed as he lifted a hand to rest his head against it. "Says who?"

"Nebl. He said it was flimsy."