His first reflex after waking up was to jump up and stretch. Ikaris wanted to sit up normally, but by gently pushing the mattress with his fingertips his body lifted off 20 centimeters. He was so surprised that he toppled forward, but instinctively he restored his balance with a front somersault.
'Weird.'
He then inhaled sharply to oxygenate his brain and hundreds of different smells flooded his olfactory nerves. The scent of wood, pheromones, his own sweat were magnified, but most of all he smelled a nauseating stench coming from a sticky substance coating his body.
'What the hell happened to me?' He paused in puzzlement. It wasn't like this the last times.
Soundlessly, he headed to the bathroom and filled the large wooden tub with cold water and jumped in. He scrubbed himself energetically with soap to remove the grime, but the smell still stung his nose and eyes. Within minutes, the clear water became cloudy and he had no choice but to give up.
