[Otto's POV]
Once they were inside of the bathroom, Otto turned the knob of the newly installed tab to fill the bath.
"I'll go heat the water," she said as she filled a large kettle from the tab.
Her heart was jumping with joy. She chuckled at how different she felt since the last time she'd filled this bath. And how much easier it was to have flowing water. Life wasn't easy without the luxury of modern day life.
"No need," Alex said. "I'll use my magic to heat it up. It will be quicker that way."
"If you say so," Otto mumbled dejectedly as she emptied the kettle into the bathtub and put it away. "Then give me your dirty clothes. I'll wash them and in the meantime, you could wear some spare clothes."
When she turned around to look at Alex, she was surprised to find that he was already pulling his T-shirt over his head.
Otto stared, completely taken by surprise by the sight of his muscular torso. Well, she'd had her suspicions since she could feel his muscles move underneath his clothes ever time they touched, but those everyday T-shirts didn't do anything for his body. She even suspected that he purposefully down-dressed to draw less attention to himself.
A wave of heat rolled over her as her wandering eyes met his eyes and a knowing grin appeared on his face.
"Look away, you dummy!" Alex laughed as he threw his dirty T-shirt straight into her face. He'd throw it with enough force for a little dust cloud to puff up on impact.
At first, Otto was angry that he'd thrown such a dirty piece of clothing into her face, but then she noticed it had Alex's smell all over it and had to push down the urge to inhale his scent and rub her face against the fabric.
"You don't need to wash my clothes," Alex said as a tell-tale splash resounded and Otto decided it was safe to pull the t-shirt from her head. "They're ripped and tattered. You can throw them into the fireplace for all I care."
When Otto looked up, she was just in time to see Alex's head sink into the smoking hot water and stay there for a few seconds. The water turned a cloudy dark grey as the water rippled from movement underneath the surface and then he came back up.
Alex ran his hands through his wet hair, rubbed the water from his face, saw the dark-grey water, magicked it into a milky white colour and sank back into the water as he put his arms on the rim of the bath.
Otto swallowed. She wasn't even sure she'd heard what Alex had said before he'd sunk into the water. Had it always been this hot in the bathroom? Watching him bathe was just overwhelming. From his electric eyes, watching her intently, to his strong shoulders and chest, to-
The sound of snapping fingers, startled her away from her train of thoughts and she jerked her eyes back up to Alex his face.
"Eyes up here, sweetheart. You look like you might have a nosebleed if I allow your eyes to travel any further downwards than they already had," he said. Otto instantly flushed bright red and hid her face in her hands.
"Sorry!" she squeaked embarrassedly. She was pretty certain that she was blushing all the way down her neck.
"Don't be. I'm flattered," Alex chuckled. She heard the water slosh as he moved but didn't dare to look at what he was up to.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt his wet hands on her wrists. "Now come here and let me clean the dirt from your face. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a chimney-sweep."
Otto allowed Alex to pull her hands away from her face, even though she still felt deadly embarrassed, and closed her eyes as he ran a damp washcloth over her face, making quick work of the mess he'd created earlier.
"Get your mind out of the gutter," Otto scolded herself in thought, but her weak resolve was shattered when she felt his lips press against hers softly.
Her eyes flew open, just to find that Alex was still hovering right in front of her face, watching her with a playful glint in his eyes.
That was the last drop.
She closed the gap, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily. He produced a noise, somewhere between a groan and a sigh and returned her kisses just as hungrily.
She was glad to have him close. She'd missed him so much. He'd moved heaven and earth to find her. She just felt so flattered, so loved. She wanted to convey that feeling to him through her kisses.
He moaned into the heated kiss, wrapped his arms around her waist and started pulling her closer.
"Wha-? Wait!" she mumbled hazily as she was already standing with her hips against the edge of the bath and threatened to lose her balance as Alex kept pulling. "My clothes will get wet if I fall into the bath."
"I don't care, I just want you close," he said, sounding just as hazy as she felt. She chuckled.
Looks like Alex had gone off the deep end.
The next time he gently tugged her waist, she obliged and climbed into the bath with him, water spilling over the edge as she did so.
Being in the water with him was exhilarating like nothing she'd ever felt: his body pressed against hers, the hot water around them, the fabric of her skirt fluttering around her legs in the water, tickling her skin.
Otto was just about to forget herself, when three polite knocks could be heard at the bathroom door.
"I'm sorry to disturb you when you are obviously very busy, dear," Annabelle said as she entered the bathroom without waiting for permission to enter. "I brought some of Jack's spare clothes, since it looked like the boy could use some new clothes."
It was clear that Annabelle was rambling because she was nervous. Which was understandable, considering that she had entered a room where a girl was sitting on top of a naked boy, with her clothes on, in the bathtub.
Otto was feeling pretty damn awkward herself. What the hell was Annabelle doing here?!
"It looks like I better leave a change of clothes for you at the door too. Not that I was looking, honestly," Annabelle rambled on as she made her way in a big bow around the bath to the window.
Only now did Otto notice the four little girls looking through the window. All of their faces bright red and full of curiosity as they had clearly been watching Alex and Otto from outside.
"So!" Annabelle said in a conclusive manner while she abruptly closed the curtains of the only window in the room, ignoring the complaints which could be heard from outside of the window and started walking back to the door she'd come in through.
"Please don't mind me, and do continue to enjoy yourself," Annabelle said as she pulled the door closed behind her.
Alex and Otto stared incredulously at the door for a moment longer, simultaneously turned their heads towards the (now closed) curtains, glanced back at each other and laughed embarrassedly.
"Had you noticed them?" Alex asked, clearly ashamed of the fact that he hadn't. Otto shook her head, feeling sheepish herself.
"How long have they been watching?" Alex wondered out loud. "I hope they didn't see me enter the bath. Here I was, covering your eyes, while I should've been worried about soiling the eyes of some innocent little girls."
"No, they aren't little girls. Most of them are old hags," Otto corrected him. "Dirty, peeping, old hags."
Alex snorted.
"What are you mumbling about?" he asked.
"It's true," Otto said. "Most of those 'little girls' have lived their lives until they were old and grey and are now almost at the end of their reverse-life. So you don't need to worry about them. They are probably gossiping about it right now. Saying things like: 'What a splendid young man! Quite something else, compared to my husband.'" Otto explained as level-headedly as she could and watched Alex's brows rise high in realisation.
"So you are actually the youngest person here?"
"Probably."
"Damn, now I feel like a cradle robber," Alex said, earning himself a playful slap against the shoulder.
"I'm not that young!" she complained. "And you are not that old!"
Alex chuckled in reply, but said nothing. A comfortable silence fell, which gave Otto the time to realise that she was straddling a naked Alex and instantly turned bright red.
"I-, I think I'd better get out," Otto mumbled as she tried to stand up and get out of the bath, only to find that she couldn't. Alex was holding on to her waist and it didn't look like he was going to let go.
"Alex, let go," she mumbled quietly.
"Why?"
"Why, you ask? I'm still wearing my clothes in the bath for one." It sounded like a hastily made up excuse even to her own ears. Alex gave her a measured look.
"I advise you to keep them on. Unless, you want to be naked in the bath with me. Then I'd be happy to magic your clothes away for you," Alex joked as he grinned devilishly.
Otto felt her cheeks heat up again.
"Magic this, magic that," she complained to distract herself from the very nosebleed-worthy image her mind had provided her at Alex's words. "Are you sure that you have the luxury to waste your energy like that? I don't know if you've noticed, but there's no such thing as electricity here."
Alex looked at her flabbergasted for an instant.
"Really nothing escapes you, does it?" he asked as he heaved a heavy sigh. "And here I was, trying to spare you the details."
Otto frowned at him, as his answer didn't seem to make sense. Was he keeping something from her? Had something happened?
"Long story short," Alex said as he took Otto's hand and gently kissed the tips. "Some things happened here which resulted in me obtaining a very large amount of energy. I don't think I'll ever have to worry about feeling faint ever again. Forget magicking little flowers into existence, I think I even might be able to create my own galaxy with this much energy."
Otto looked at him dumbstruck.
"You received an amount of energy that is large enough to create a galaxy?" she asked by way of verifying what he'd told her. He nodded. "Isn't that dangerous? I'd think that that much energy is unhealthy for the human body."
Alex frowned, clearly thinking something over.
"It should be fine," he mumbled in thought. "Yahya's father was the previous holder and he lived his life until he was old and gray, so I don't think it's harmful."
"If you aren't worried, neither am I," Otto said as she shifted into a more comfortable position. To her surprise, Alex gasped and his eyes clouded over with lust.
"Please do remember that you are still sitting on me," he said.
"Am I now?" Otto chuckled as she leaned into his chest and snuggled her face into the nape of his neck, just because she knew he was sensitive there.
She drew her tongue along the length of his neck and nipped gently at his earlobe. A wave of self-confidence washed over her as she was rewarded with a soft groan.
She smiled to herself as she noticed Alex had unconsciously angled his head to grant her more access to his neck. Very different from how he'd pushed her away the first time.
Maybe it was because they already were in heaven, but being with Alex sure was fun.
Needless to say, they spend more time than necessary in the bath.