Mirror, Mirror

3.12 Hot Springs

Soon, it was late.

They had dinner with the family, then went out again. Fox said the hot springs were rarely in use after dinner, which was eaten pretty late at night already.

"Let's check out the hot springs," Starla said. So they went. It was empty. Starla was delighted. They'd get the whole place to themselves.

Starla felt a little shy. She had been focused on worrying about Rayvin's dysphoria, that she forgot she might be self-conscious of her own body in front of him, even though they'd gotten undressed around each other a lot already. It was just bodies. Nothing weird about that. That's what she told herself as she stripped off all her clothes and lowered herself into the hot water. Who cared if Rayvin saw a little more of her than he normally did?

"I won't look," she said. "I'll close my eyes until you get in."

"OK," Rayvin said. "I appreciate it." So, she closed her eyes and just focused on the hot water on her body and the smell of soaps and flowers.

She heard a splash and felt a ripple in the water. She opened her eyes. Rayvin settled himself next to her.

"You shaved," she commented.

"I did," he said, with a small smile. "This morning. Did you just notice now?"

"No, I just forgot to say something until now," Starla said. She suddenly felt very, very warm and aware of every drop of water in Rayvin's stupidly gorgeous eyelashes.

"Pass me the soaps, would you?" she said. "I actually planned to get clean while bathing." Rayvin handed her a tray of soaps, which she took. She started with her hair, which she fully washed five times before moving on to conditioner. With each wash, she felt nearly a month's worth of grime melt away. Dried blood from her old wounds came free from her skin. It was a relief.

"God. I needed this," Starla sighed.

"Um, Starla?" Rayvin said. She glanced over at him. He had submerged himself so the water was above his chest. He had a comb sticking out the back of his head, tangled in his dark, wet hair. He pulled at it awkwardly with one arm.

"Do you need help?" Starla asked, amused.

"Maybe..." Rayvin said. "I've been stuck for a few minutes now and didn't want to bother you. I didn't realize you could spend so long washing just your hair..."

"I'm not even done yet," Starla said. "Come here. Let me help you." He waded toward her, looking embarrassed, until they stood face to face in the water.

"Look down," she commanded, and he complied. "Rayvin! This comb is for finer hair than yours. No wonder it got stuck." She found where the comb had stuck in his hair and started working through it.

"Ow," Rayvin said, flinching as Starla pulled at the comb. "I don't know what that means, but it sounds like an insult."

"It means you need to use a comb for thicker hair," Starla said. "Something with bigger teeth, spaced further apart. God, you're such a boy."

"OK, that was definitely an insult," Rayvin said with a smile in his voice. "Who in their right mind would want to be a boy?"

"That's what I'm saying," Starla laughed. "Trust me, I've gotten my hair stuck in a comb more times than you could know. I can get it out." She kept working. Rayvin looked up at her through his eyelashes and smiled. She looked away and focused.

"There, all better" she said, dropping the criminal comb into the water and adding sternly, "Make sure to use a better comb next time." She didn't pull away, lingering a few seconds longer with her fingers in Rayvin's damp hair. He didn't pull away either.

"You have really nice hair," Starla said.

"Thanks," he said softly.

"You should take proper care of it," Starla continued, letting her gaze fall from his hair to his eyes.

"I should, shouldn't I?" Rayvin said with a small smile as their eyes met.

Starla's gaze dropped further, flickering to his lips. She felt him go very, very still.

She gently pulled his face to hers until their lips touched. Then, she felt him put his arms around her and pull her against him, chest to chest. They stood up, rivulets of water flowing down their bodies, and kissed. The air was freezing cold, the water was hot, and their two bodies pressed together were burning.

They heard a sound and jerked their heads around to see what it was. A young woman. She gaped at them, then crouched down to pick up whatever she'd seemed to have left here, then scurried out, mouthing sorry.

"Did she—?" Rayvin said. He'd sunk back into the water to hide his chest.

"I don't think she saw," Starla reassured him. "Your back was turned to her." She saw relief flash in his eyes. She sunk down into the water to be level with him. He smiled at her. She smiled back. Cautiously, she closed the space between them again, and Rayvin pulled her in toward him, gently. Rayvin settled onto his knees in the water, and Starla wrapped her legs around his waist. She put her arms over his shoulders.

"You're gorgeous, Starla," he said, holding her close to him. She responded by kissing him again.

❖

Eventually, they had to leave the haven of the hot springs if they wanted to get enough sleep.

Rayvin seemed distracted by something.

"What is it?" Starla asked, combing through her hair.

"I look like a man," Rayvin said, with enough surprise in his voice that Starla wanted to throttle him for ever doubting it. Starla turned and spied the small looking glasses embedded into the edge of the pool.

And suddenly Starla saw it. They didn't look like friends. They certainly didn't look like enemies. They looked like a prince and a princess who had found each other in this wild, wild world.