Warnings: Nudity (plus Theo being thirsty AF ;P)
~*~
Theo had turned the thought over in his head all the way to the baths, but now that he'd arrived a much more pressing concern was staring right at him.
Him. In the baths. With Zenith.
If you slapped his face with a raw steak, it'd get a great sear for sure.
Well, at least Zenith wasn't here yet. Right now, Theo and Oren were waiting in the narrow entrance hall of the bathhouse, a stone building on the southern face of the mountain. Warm, mineral-scented steam filled the air, a tantalizing taste of the hot springs inside.
Theo wouldn't lie; he was definitely looking forward to his first hot bath since arriving in Tielos. Even if it meant he had to take it with Zenith. Or maybe that was a bonus?
'Seriously, stop thinking about this!' Trying to distract himself, he smoothed down the front of the light robe he'd changed into in Oren's cell.
But he didn't get to waste his time for long before the bathhouse door clicked open and a tall figure stepped inside. Oren's face brightened. "Sir Zenith! Glad you found us okay!"
"Yes, it wasn't difficult," Zenith said. Like Theo and Oren, he wore only a robe, and his hair was gathered in a loose bun. Seeing him like this – so casual and unguarded – Theo couldn't stop his heart from racing.
And it went into overdrive when Oren flung off his robe and pushed open the curtain to the baths. "C'mon!" he called over his shoulder before dashing inside.
Just like that, Zenith shrugged out of his robe too. 'Don't look!' Theo screamed at himself, but too late. His eyes had already landed on Zenith's lean, sculpted torso.
And before he could stop himself, they slid lower. 'So he does have all the equipment,' mused some incredibly stupid voice inside Theo. Then again, if he was being honest he'd have to admit he had half expected to see nothing there, like a Ken doll.
"Is something the matter, Theo?" Zenith's voice jolted down Theo's spine like an electric shock. Just what the hell was he doing, staring at some other guy's junk?
Face burning, Theo tore his gaze away. "I'm fine," he said, though his strained voice suggested the exact opposite.
Zenith tilted his head, a few loose strands of hair swinging. "Are you certain? Your body temperature has risen dramatically. If you aren't feeling well – "
"No, no, I'm fine!" Theo blurted, waving his hands. "Uh, just a minute."
Almost reluctantly, he peeled off his own robe. It was stupid, but he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at how scrawny he was in comparison to Zenith. Surely Zenith wouldn't find anything to admire about his body.
'Why do you want him to, anyway?' More than searing steaks, you could probably smelt iron on his face by now.
Which probably wasn't helping Zenith's impression of his wellbeing one bit. But the knight didn't say anything, just walked over to the curtain and pulled it open for Theo. Polite as ever….
Beyond the curtain, the steam billowed so thick Theo had to squint to see through it. Even then, it was impossible to miss Oren's enthusiastic waving.
In this chamber, bathers washed themselves before soaking in the spring. After dragging up a stool next to Oren, Theo busied himself pouring buckets of hot water over his head and scrubbing his skin with a rough cloth. Like this, he could get himself so much cleaner than in the short, cold showers aboard the Blue Sky.
Too bad he couldn't do anything about his hair, he thought ruefully as he twisted the limp wet strands around his finger. So far he'd yet to encounter anything in the way of styling products on Tielos. Maybe it was time to get cracking on that guise.
Thankfully the steam obscured his view of Zenith. Not that it stopped him from trying to sneak glimpses at his familiar's elegant silhouette, his careful, precise movements.
Hating himself, feeling like the world's grossest voyeur, Theo tore his eyes away and focused on scrubbing his chest until it was red and stinging. Unfortunately, that did not stop his heart from pounding against his ribcage like it wanted to escape.
He reached behind to wash his back, only to hear soft footsteps behind him. The next thing he knew, a hand brushed between his shoulder blades.
"Yeek!" Theo almost jumped out of his skin – and would've fallen clean off the stool if a firm hand hadn't grabbed him by the arm. The same one that just a moment ago had been touching his back.
The blood rushing in his ears, Theo slowly turned his head around. Sure enough, Zenith was staring back at him, wearing a familiar puzzled expression.
"Forgive me, Theo. Did I startle you?"
"Um – uh – uh – wuh – " Dammit, why couldn't he make words come out? "N-no, it's good, I'm good. B-but what are you doing?"
Zenith held up his washcloth. "I thought I might assist with washing your back."
'Zenith? Washing my back?' Maybe none of this was real. Maybe he'd fallen asleep and was having a very nice dream.
"Oh!" When Oren popped up, staring at Zenith with puppy dog eyes, Theo had to concede he was indeed awake. "Sir Zenith, if I could have the honor of washing your back – "
To Theo's surprise, Zenith shook his head. "Forgive me, but I would like for Theo to do it. If it's all right with you, of course."
"Ah yeah, yeah, it is!" Theo burst out before he could stop himself. Imagine that. Zenith wanted him to wash his back – and only him.
Honestly, Theo could die happy right now.
"Aw." Oren pouted, but it didn't take long for his usual bright grin to return. "Well, I get it, since you are wizard and familiar."
Right, Theo told himself. A familiar and wizard could wash each other's backs. Nothing weird about it. All the same, his heartbeat didn't slow down one iota as he turned around and Zenith crouched behind him.
When the cloth brushed his skin, it took all of his effort not to jump off the stool again. He bit his lip and gripped his knees, anything – anything – to keep the excitement racing through his blood from showing.
'Get your head out of the gutter,' he berated himself. 'He's just washing my back!' And Zenith wasn't even doing it in an especially sensual way; rather, he worked in his usual careful, attentive manner, methodically scrubbing up and down. Yet Theo couldn't help but feel like his world had shrunk to the gentle weight of Zenith's hands on his back, the rough cloth rubbing his skin.
The lower Zenith went, the hotter Theo's blood boiled. Thank everything he stopped well clear of Theo's rear end. "I'm done," he announced, and Theo wasn't sure if he felt relieved or disappointed when the pressure of the cloth disappeared.
The hard part had only just begun, he reminded himself. With clumsy, shaking legs Theo stumbled off the stool and let Zenith take his place. The trembling only got worse as he approached Zenith from behind.
'Do not look at his ass. Do not look at his ass,' he repeated in his head like a madman. Besides, there was plenty else to see. Like the pale skin flushed and glistening from the hot water, the subtle but firm shape of his muscles beneath….
And there on the small of his back, something like a tattoo. Except it was glowing pale pink, so faint the steam almost obscured it, and shaped like a circle filled with intricate designs. Just like a diagram, and a strangely familiar one at that.
"What is that?" Theo blurted.
Zenith craned his head over his shoulder. "Pardon?"
"I, uh – this. On your back. Looks like a diagram?" Theo managed to squeak out.
"Ah." Zenith blinked, eyelashes fluttering. "That would be the mark of our contract. I'm surprised you've not seen it before."
Well yeah, when would he have? The only time he'd seen Zenith shirtless before, he hadn't gotten a look at his back. To think he'd had this mark on him all this time, in all the months they'd known each other….
"I don't have one," he found himself saying.
"You wouldn't," Zenith said mildly. "It only appears on the body of the familiar, usually in a place that isn't very noticeable. Though there are exceptions, like Avia."
Oh, so that was what that green circle on her forehead meant, and why it had turned into an orange one when Oliver had held her contract. Which meant...for a brief period of time, Zenith must have also worn Oliver's mark, right?
A jagged knife twisted through Theo's heart. 'No. That's wrong,' some deep, primal voice in him insisted. 'He belongs to me. 'I'm the only one – '
Theo shook his head to clear it. What the hell was he thinking? The mark just meant Zenith had a contract with him; it didn't mean Zenith 'belonged' to him or anything. Zenith was his own person. And the contract couldn't compare in any way to the Levia that Darian had given to him, the Levia that kept him alive.
But just knowing the mark existed made Theo happy enough to explode. At least in some small way, it proved their connection was real.
The thought gave him strength – something he very much needed if he hoped to get through with washing Zenith's back.