When Aesop stood up from the bathtub, Lia saw the lower part of his body! She quickly covered her eyes with her hands, shouting, "I didn't see it! I didn't!"
The naked Aesop soon realized what Lia claimed that she didn't see, but she actually saw. He hurriedly went to the side of the door where two large towels were hanged. He took one of them to cover his lower body and took the other one to give it to her.
Aesop started walking towards Lia. "I'm all covered now, sorry. Here's a towel." His left hand with the towel reached out to her.
The shy caretaker swiftly walked towards him, too, and when she reached for the towel, she slipped backward!
Lia closed her eyes and braced for the impact. She felt the towel on her hands as she pulled it from Aesop. When she fell, her lower back was soaked wet with water, but her upper back and her head remained dry. It was because Aesop's right hand had held Lia at the back of her shoulder.
As a result, Aesop fell on top of her. He kneeled on the floor, with Lia's body in between. His large wings extended wide when he tried to prevent her from slipping down, but they fell anyway because he lost his balance due to the pulled towel.
His golden eyes gazed onto Lia's deep blue eyes. Both of their heartbeats were pounding fast, and the sound of the gushing water from the showerhead was echoing in the bathroom.
Lia, still holding the towel upwards, placed it on top of her head as she blushed and screamed internally because of too much embarrassment. "Uhm… Ae…" she uttered, relieved that he couldn't see her face at that moment.
As Aesop flapped his wings, he helped Lia to stand up. He led her to the drier part of the bathroom, beside the door. Since the towel was covering her head, he helped her dry her hair by rubbing the towel gently. "Sorry if I startled you," he whispered close to her ear. "I'll be more careful next time… Are you mad?"
His voice lingered in her head, making her feel goosebumps, and slowly peeked through the damp towel. "I'm not mad… just a bit shocked." She explained as she looked at him, while he was drying her hair.
"Okay, that's good," Aesop said, then noticed Lia's wet clothes. "Lia, you'll catch a cold. Do you have spare clothes?"
"No, I don't…" she said. Usually, she's bringing at least an extra shirt, but neither of them expected this to happen.
"You should borrow mine." he offered.
She was surprised, "What? You have clothes? Then why were you always-" she glanced at his 6-pack abs, then to his face.
"Why should I wear those ugly, loose, sleeveless shirts with back slits? It's a hassle putting them on, besides, it's just me in here," he complained.
He had a point, and he shouldn't adjust for a mere caretaker like her. Since she's the outsider, she just had to get used to it. It's alright though because it's pleasant to see!
He grabbed Lia's arm and led her to a room adjacent to the bathroom. It had all of his clothes, mostly his bottomwear like his leather pants, pajamas, and yoga pants. These were properly hung in a metal bar.
Aesop let go of her and walked towards the dresser. His underwear was there, as well as his unused clothes. He took out a loose shirt and gave it to her. "Just borrow anything you like. Go change, I'll wait for you outside," and then he dashed out of the room.
Lia was holding onto the loose, white sleeveless shirt that he gave her. She looked at it and held it up with her two hands to see its design. "It has two slits at the back, but this will do." She then opened the other drawer with Aesop's underwear sets in it. She took out a brief and saw the size "XL", then hurriedly placed it back in, blushing. She searched the drawer for boxer shorts and chose the red, striped one. Next, she approached the metal bar where his pants were hung. "I'm really going to bring extra clothes next time…" she thought, as she pulled out a pair of gray yoga pants.
Meanwhile, Aesop was outside, slightly leaning beside the door's entrance. "What's taking her so long?" he thought. He was excited to see her wearing his clothes, and he didn't understand why.
Soon after, Lia opened the door. Her long, wet hair almost covered the back slits of the shirt. She wore one of Aesop's boxers underneath temporarily while her dripping set of underwear was in the hanger to dry. She also wore the smallest yoga pants she could find and covered herself with another layer of loose shirt. "Ae, can I borrow a blanket?" she asked, looking like a puppy drenched in the rain.
Aesop was stoned for a while, thinking how cute his caretaker is, wearing his loose clothes. Unintentionally, he saw her bare skin at the sides of his loose, sleeveless shirt, "I'll go get you one. Stay there," he said as he felt hot in his cheeks.
Aesop went to his improvised bed, the one that Lia had requested to be made on the floor. It was composed of a thick mattress, blankets, and large pillows. He took one of the blankets, swiftly went to Lia, and covered her with it.
"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Oh no, I almost forgot. I have to put some ointment on your back. Can you sit?"
Aesop nodded and took a low chair stool. Lia applied the medicinal cream onto his wounds. Both of them stayed silent throughout, even though their mind was in chaos because of their growing affection towards each other that they had not yet accepted within themselves.